Soul Laws
by MyTwiDreams
Summary: Young lawyer Mary Alice Brandon is a woman without a past but with a promising future ahead of her that she wants to share with a gorgeous brunette./AH/Bellice/femslash/ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer

[Summary] Young lawyer Mary Alice Brandon is a woman without a past but with a promising future ahead of her that she wants to share with a gorgeous brunette.

[A/N] *clears throat* *bites fingernails* *takes sip from wine glass*

Did I make it obvious enough that I'm nervous? Actually, I'm so fucking nervous that I wasn't even sure if I wanted to post this under my account or under a new one, so that no one would know I'm the one writing this.

Some people will most likely still be mad at me for deleting some of my other works. I will probably re-post them should my inspiration for those return. Anyway, this is a new story, a new plot bunny running through my head but still same old me who is trying to write it. Let's see how this turns out. Shall we?

I want to thank a bunch of wonderful people because if it wasn't for their support, I probably wouldn't be posting this new story today. So, big hugs to everyone who sent a pm, tweeted or emailed me that my work doesn't suck and is worth to be continued. Your encouraging words are like balm to my self-doubting soul.

Acknowledgements;

To Sophia because she agreed to beta this baby for me, so that I won't embarrass myself with all the cruelty I'm doing to the English language.

To Deja for singing a song for me to cheer me up when I was sad. That was the nicest thing someone has done for me in a very long time.

To my lovely Muse for she inspires me, listens to my constant rambling and always manages to make me smile. I love you more, so stop trying.

****Chapter 1****

_Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end_

_(Seneca)  
_

On a pleasantly sunny day in July of 1995, a young girl named Mary Alice Brandon found herself waking up with sore joints inside a Greyhound Bus that had just passed the City sign of Seattle. She rubbed her eyes, fidgeting for the half-filled bottle of water in her backpack. Taking a small sip of the stale liquid, she realized that she could name every item she had packed inside her luggage, but had not even a hint or a clue who she, herself was. The only thing she remembered was her name, Mary Alice Brandon. It was written in a spidery handwriting on the top of her backpack, the dot on the 'I' replaced by a tiny little flower. She didn't know who had drawn it and didn't know anything else about herself. Not even the color of her hair or eyes.

This awareness sent a wave of panic through her and the vision in front of her started to blur while she continued taking several hectic gasps. Hesitantly she lifted her fingertips to her temples, searching for any kind of external injuries. Maybe she had slipped inside the bus and hurt her head?

Mary Alice pulled the tiny make-up mirror, with the crack right across the glass, out of her backpack. Taking a closer look at her face, she wondered if a direct look at her own face would somehow bring back the memory.

It didn't work. The pale face of the teenage girl starring back at her, who was wearing a little too much of smeared make-up, was definitely a pretty one. Still child-like and innocent, but it didn't look at all familiar to her. Grey eyes blinked…once…twice and somehow Mary Alice waited for them to fill with watery tears, smudging the black eyeliner around them even more. But they didn't come. She felt very much like crying but her eyes, these unfamiliar grey eyes, stayed dry. Completely dry.

When the bus finally stopped, she stepped out of it, her movements clumsy, as if she had just learned how to walk like a baby.

The jeans skirt she was wearing felt too tight around her waist. When her stomach growled, she sat down on a small stripe of grass behind the parking lot and started nibbling on the last sugarcoated donut which lay inside the small box she had carried with her.

She remembered buying them and bitching at the elderly woman inside the Dunkin Donut shop because they didn't have any more strawberry frosted ones. These were her favorite. It felt odd to Mary Alice that she clearly remembered everything else, tiny unimportant details, even like the color of her hairbrush back home—wherever that was, but couldn't even think of much more than her own name. She didn't know how old she was, who her parents were or even the name of the city she had been born or raised in.

Unable to move, she kept sitting right where she was. Desperately waiting for someone to pick her up. Someone was going to pick her up, right?

But after the last glimpse of the sun had vanished behind the tall buildings around her, she realized that obviously no one had expected her arrival here in Seattle.

"Missy, you ok?" A grey-haired man who was walking his dog asked her worriedly.

She shook her head, standing up from the ground again.

"I don't know where to go."

He laughed, leaning forward with a plastic bag around his right hand to pick up his dog's waste.

"Home, sweetheart. You are supposed to go home."

Mary Alice couldn't go home that night. She had zero clues as to where that was. She didn't even know if she lived in Seattle or was just here to visit someone. Her accent hinted that she had come from somewhere in the South, but what the hell was she doing in Washington now?

The man, God bless his kind soul, agreed to drive her to the nearest hospital where a friend of his worked as a doctor.

There she was examined carefully. They checked her scull for injuries, and took blood and urine samples from her for further testing.

A young nurse with mousy brown hair called the police, hoping that someone had reported a missing teenager who's description fit hers, but of course she wasn't that lucky. Her test results came back and it turned out that, at least physically, everything was perfectly alright.

Well, almost perfectly alright...

"Hello, Mary Alice. How's it going?" a blonde-curly haired doctor asked her when he entered the room. His blue eyes were shadowed by dark circles, making him look incredibly tired but his voice was calm and friendly. The edge of his mouth twitched and for the first time since she had woken up, Mary Alice felt the urge to return a smile.

"I don't like hospitals. They smell yucky."

"I'm sorry they haven't come up with disinfections that smell of flowers yet. Do you like their scent better?"

"I like gerbera and tulips, but my favorites are freesia. Isn't it weird that I know so very exactly what flowers I like and can even remember how they smell, but can't memorize my parent's phone number?"

"Amnesia is a very complex disease. Try to stay calm. It's most likely that your memory will return shortly. Our psychiatrist can explain it better to you."

"Oh, so you're not the shrink?" she asked him in surprise. Surely they would make her talk to a shrink to figure out if she was crazy.

"No, I'm Doctor Cullen, the gynecologist. Do you remember if someone has examined you before?"

"You're a freaking pervert who gets off looking at young girls pussies. If you touch me, I'll scream."

"I assure you that I'm not a pervert. Look, I know that your situation is difficult. It would be difficult for any young girl in your condition and for you— I assume it must be even worse."

Mary Alice swallowed hard and nodded her head although she was unable to make sense out of his words.

"A nurse will be with you throughout the examination, if that makes you feel more comfortable."

She bite her tongue to keep herself from telling him that it would surely make her feel better to remember her life and somehow she doubted that having a gynecological exam would help with that, in any kind of way.

"Lay back and pull your shirt up a bit. I'm just going to do a quick ultrasound to see how far you are."

"How far I am with what? Am I sick somehow?"

"No, Mary Alice." He told her, squeezing some ice-cold gel on her flat of her lower abdominal area.

"That's gross."

"Look at the screen. This is your left ovary…that's your bladder and…here…here we have what we were looking for. I guess you must be around eight or nine weeks now. That gives you still enough time to make up your mind whether you want to keep it or not."

"I AM PREGNANT?"

"I'm sorry you had to find out like this. Considering your age, I assume that this wasn't exactly planned."

"I don't know if I got knocked up on purpose. I don't know whether I'm stupid or smart, because I ain't even gotta clue of who the hell I am!"

He sighed deeply, running his hands through the blond waves on his head before sitting down on the plastic chair next to her hospital bed.

"Someone from Youth Care is going to show up here any minute. They'll find a foster family with whom you are going to stay with until your memory comes back, or they'll find your parents."

"I don't want to live with some random strangers. Can't I just stay here in the hospital? I'm starting to get used to the stench."

"Mary Alice, there is nothing to be afraid of. Foster parents…"

He stopped mid-sentence when the door was pulled open and a caramel haired beauty entered the room. Her heels clicked on the hard hospital floor. She looked like a perfect lady from an old-fashioned Hollywood Movie.

"Hello. You must be Mary Alice. It's nice to meet you. My name is Esme Cullen, and I'm here to help you."

"She's your wife?" she asked the doctor in surprise. "I didn't know doctors' wives had to work at all."

"Oh sweetie, my husband works like fourteen hours each day, what am I supposed to do the entire time he's gone? Rearrange our furniture over and over again? I'd rather do something useful and help others. Now, enough about my boring life and onto the important thing of finding you a new temporary home."

"I already told your hubby here that I don't want to stay with some random strangers."

"Well, you can't stay here for you are not sick."

"I don't feel too healthy right now. My stomach is sore."

"That's normal in your condition. Try eating some dry crackers." He suggested.

"She's pregnant?"

"Yes, Esme, about eight or nine weeks now. It is difficult to be precise because she can't remember when she had her period the last time."

"Sorry for making your job difficult, doc."

"It's okay, Mary Alice," he whispered, turning to his wife then. "Esme, dear, do you think we could let her stay in Jasper's room for a night since he's living with Peter and Charlotte now?"

She sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingertips.

"I thought we'd both agreed on not taking in any more teenage foster kids after all the trouble that boy gave us in the last year."

Mary Alice didn't give the Cullen's any trouble, and that one night turned into a week, followed by an entire month. Esme faxed a photograph of Mary Alice to several police stations all over the country, but no one ever replied to them. How could a young girl just disappear and no one seem to be missing her?

But when the dainty, teenage girl gave birth to a dirty-blonde baby half a year later, the girl had already decided to focus on her future and no longer her past. Her new foster mom took care of the constantly screaming infant while she attended school, where it turned out that she was indeed far from being stupid. She was smart; having some sort of natural thirst for knowledge she was desperate to feed.

The baby turned into a chubby toddler with watery blue eyes who started walking and calling Esme 'Mommy', instead of her. It was like both of them, Mary Alice and her little son, had found a new mother in the warm-hearted doctor's wife.

She and her husband paid for the young girl's college education and even encouraged her to attend law school afterwards. Where she graduated with honors.

This had been a couple of months ago, and now? Here she was. Standing in front of a expectant-looking jury, wearing a pair of uncomfortably high heels and some small pearl earrings Carlisle had given her for last Christmas. She was nervous, her palms were sweating and she took several deep breaths to calm herself down. This was her first day in court on her own and she was determined to prove to her boss, Mr. King, that he had chosen right by offering her this job opportunity.

Her voice was soft but crystal clear when she finally spoke up again.

"Miss Young," she started friendly. "Miss Young, I assure you that I and every other person in this room feels sorry for this horrible accident that happened to you."

"It wasn't an accident for fucks sake! She made her monster of a dog attack me."

"Your cousin insists it was an accident and I believe her words to be true. She even called the ambulance afterwards to make sure you received help. If she wanted to harm you, wouldn't it have been much easier just to let you…bleed to death or something to that relevance?"

"Objection, your honor, leading."

"I'll rephrase the question, your honor, if I may?"

"You may, Miss Brandon."

"Miss Young, did your cousin, Miss Clearwater, call the ambulance when she found you or did she not?"

"Yes," the dark-haired woman whispered hoarsely.

"Speak into the microphone, Miss Young, so that we can hear you better." The judge instructed.

"I said , yes. Leah called the ambulance after pulling the mutt off of me."

"Why do you think she did that, if she…like you told the police, was so desperate to harm you?"

The young woman chuckled bitterly, pulling her shiny black hair behind her left ear.

"Just look at my face. I'd rather be dead than to wake up with this face…or whatever it is that is left of it, every goddamn day."

"No further questions, your honor. Mr. Whitlock, your witness."

"No, further questions, your honor. Thank you. I'd like to hear from the defendant now. "

The doors opened, revealing a tall raven-haired beauty with dark copper skin and feathery-like eye lashes. She walked towards the witness stand, continuing to keep her head high, her lips pressed together into a small line.

"Raise your right hand. State your full name for the record."

"Leah Susan Clearwater."

"Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"I swear."

The young prosecutor smirked, placing his right hand on the wooden table in front of the defendant.

"Miss Clearwater, would you repeat the happenings three months ago?"

"Objection, your honor, everyone in this court room knows what happened. It is completely…"

"Overruled. Miss Clearwater, answer his question."

"I was doing laundry when I heard the dog barking outside. Then someone screamed. I went outside and found Emily bleeding on the ground with Embry on top of her."

"What did you do?"

"Grabbed him around his collar to pull him off of her, because he didn't react to any command I was giving him. God, there was so much blood. At first I thought she was dead."

"Did you call an ambulance?"

"Objection, your honor, the phone records definitely prove that my client has called them."

"Sustained."

"Did you command your dog to attack your cousin?"

"Of course not, why would I do such a horrible thing to her? The dog practically ripped off the left side of her face."

"Several people, your own brother among them, have testified under oath that you have threatened her before."

"I didn't mean it. I was just so angry at her. She was my best friend and stole my boyfriend behind my back."

"Were you angry enough to harm her physically? I can assume, I'd be pretty pissed off if my boyfriend left me for my cousin."

"Objection, your honor. Mr. Whitlock is trying to influence my client. It is of no concern for this case how he'd handle his own love life."

"Sustained. Mr. Whitlock, try to keep things a bit more neutral."

"Yes, your honor, I shall. Well, Miss Clearwater, what did you say on the last night you saw her? Wasn't that the night where your former boyfriend, Mr. Samuel Uley, informed you about his and Miss Young's engagement?"

"Yes."

"What did you say to her?"

"What was I supposed to say? Congratulate them or something like that? Look, I was miserable and the beer I had didn't make things any better. I did not mean the things I said to her."

"What exactly did you tell her?"

"Answer the question, Miss Clearwater." The judge instructed, taking a gulp from his glass of water.

"I told her that I'm going to hate her with every fiber of my very soul. That I hoped someday she'd feel pain too. I said, 'Go to hell, you slut. I can't endure seeing your fucking face anymore.'"

"Why do you think your dog attacked her? You insist he never harmed a human before that horrible day which has changed your cousin's life irrevocably."

"I don't know what goes on in his head. Embry is just an animal. I'm sorry about what happened, but I can't turn back time and make things undone."

"Thank you, Miss Clearwater, no further questions. Miss Brandon, your witness."

Mary Alice gave him the slightest hint of a smile before she focused her attention on her client. Leah was a beautiful woman, beautiful in an exotic way, but the constant frown on her face wasn't going to win the jury for her while her cousin's scar-covered face made everyone instantly feel pity for her.

"Leah, you have already told me how very sorry you are about what happened to your cousin. I wonder if she has ever apologized to you for how she has hurt your feelings."

"We didn't exactly talk much since she and Sam…well, there isn't much left to talk about when you catch your cousin, your very best friend making out with your boyfriend in his car."

"Did you have anything to do with your dog attacking Miss Young?"

"No, I don't."

"What kinds of commandos have you taught the dog since you got him?"

"Sit, down, here…I tried to teach him how to retrieve sticks for me, but he doesn't seem to be very interested in that."

"Why do you think, Emily Young and the prosecutor, are so utterly convinced you made your dog attack her on purpose."

"Maybe…maybe, because I have trouble covering the fact that I hate her. But just because I hate her doesn't mean I'd hurt her like that. I could have put paint on her wedding dress or something like that. I'm truly sorry the surgeons couldn't do anything more for her face."

"Why do you have trouble masking your dislike for your former best friend?"

"Because my father taught me to tell the truth, Miss Brandon. I'm not a liar."

"Thank you, Leah. No further questions, your honor."

"I'll interrupt for an hour so that everyone may get some lunch and then hopefully manage to fix the air-conditioning in this room. It's like we're stuck inside in a gigantic ice-cube." The judge murmured before stepping outside with a huge pile of records underneath his arm. He was going to eat in his office while Mary Alice and a bunch of others made their way down to the Cafeteria. She didn't feel the tiniest bit hungry but that was probably just because she was so tensed. It was important to her to win that case, maybe even more for herself than for the woman she was hired to defend. Mary Alice knew that succeeding today would increase her chances of being transferred to the planned new office of King's & Son in Chicago. Getting a job there would mean she would be able to see her beloved one every day instead of just speaking on the phone with her and sending emails.

A low sigh escaped her lips as she thought about how much she missed Bella. The love of her life, the on - the right one. She just knew it and her heartbeat increased as she pulled out her cell to check it for new texts.

**Counting the minutes until I'm finally holding you in my arms again, and every one of them counts twice.**

**My plane is late because of the crappy weather down here but I should arrive at your office around 8 p.m. Can't wait to see it.**

**I kiss your neck...**

**B.**

Mary Alice's cheeks warmed and she was just about to type a quick reply when she heard a deep voice behind her.

"Are you going to take the last tuna sandwich or are you just going to stand here and smile for no reason?"

"I don't care too much for tuna, so feel free to have it, Jasper."

"So, it's Jasper again now, and not Mr. Whitlock like ten minutes ago?"

"I'd call you asshole too if that would be an acceptable form of address in court."

"You're so effing cute when you are nervous, Aly."

"I'm not nervous. Now excuse me, I want to get some yoghurt or fruit salad."

"The fruit salad in this place tastes like crap."

"I didn't ask for your opinion on the food here. Why are you even talking to me? That's unprofessional and appearing professional is important to me."

He chuckled, bowing his head as if he was pretending to lift an invisible hat from his messy curls.

"You are nervous. There is no need to be, you're doing fine. King, this shit head, will be more than content with your work."

She gave him a dirty look, carrying her tray filled with a bottle of orange juice and a bowl of plain yoghurt over to an empty table.

The tall man followed her, sitting down in front of her where he instantly started munching on his sandwich.

"How's your wife and the little one?" she asked him, somehow feeling forced to attempt some small talk with him.

"Maria is lonely here. She misses her family back in Mexico."

"You know it would help her to make some friends if she would finally start learning our language properly."

"She is busy handling her daughter. Lucy is a handful. You don't know how it's like to work and raise a child on top of that."

"I finished Law School while Matt was growing up."

"Esme raised him, not you.. and unlike my step-daughter, he really was a nice kid that was easy to handle."

"Now, he's a teenage brat who has decided to hate me and make my life difficult."

"You took him away from his home, from his mother."

"I am his mother." Mary Alice stated, emphasizing each word overly dramatically while fumbling the lid from her juice bottle.

**§§SL§§**

"Congratulations on winning your first case. Mr. King will be so thrilled to hear about this. Do you want to have some champagne?" Mary Alice's secretary asked her cheerfully. Jessica Stanley had a tendency to gossip a bit too much for her boss' taste but that woman made a decent coffee and knew how to handle her crowded schedule.

"I don't feel like drinking alcohol right now. You can finish for today. I won't need your assistance anymore."

The chubby woman nodded her head, grabbing her jacket from her chair when someone knocked on the door.

"Come on in."

"I didn't know you were expecting another client tonight."

"It's fine. Miss Swan is here to see me privately. Enjoy your night, Jessica, and say hi to Mike from me."

Jessica left the office and a heartbeat later Mary Alice closed the door behind the beautiful brunette who entered the room, wearing a simple black dress that hugged her curves temptingly.

"You're here," the smaller woman whispered, closing her hands behind her lover's neck to pull her closer.

"You are finally here now. It has been too long, so very long."

Warmth spread through Mary Alice's body as she touched her lips tenderly against the soft warm mouth in front of her and like someone who has been forced to starve for a very long time. She was greedy to get as much of Bella as possible. Licking the plumb bottom lip with the tip of her tongue until Bella parted her mouth enough to let her explore the heat of her mouth.

"Aly," she gasped while Mary Alice's mouth closed around Bella's earlobe, suckling it gently between her lips. "I need to tell you something."

"Later," Mary Alice murmured. "We'll talk later. Talking to you is something I can do on the phone. Right now I want to feel you."

Running her hand down the brunette's side, Mary Alice's hand quickly found the zipper of Bella's dress. Taking in the look of her beautiful girlfriend as the cotton fabric of her dress fell down to her ankles, she licked her lips greedily.

This wasn't going to be slow and soft. The two of them would have enough time for that once they made it home. But now, Mary Alice wanted to feel her lover's body tremble underneath hers as she brought her pleasure.

"We shouldn't be doing this in your office," Bella tried to protest while her fingertips started fumbling with the small buttons on Mary Alice's blouse. When she had exposed the pair of perky breasts that were covered underneath a delicate silk bra, a flush covered her face.

"Touch me."

Bella's mouth found Mary Alice's again, their tongues circling around each other while they started to explore the other one's body. Somehow Mary Alice managed to maneuver them over to the brown leather couch in the corner of her office.

Moving her hand down Alice's flat stomach, Bella paused for a moment before slipping her fingers underneath the silk of her lover's thong, finding her already slippery warm for her touch. Coating her fingertip in the essence, Bella started massaging gently between Mary Alice's sensitive folds. Finding the throbbing pearl of her lust a moment later, she started pumping two fingers into the tightness of Mary Alice's sex. Faster and faster her fingers started moving, in and out of her dainty lover, who couldn't wait for the day to come when Bella would be ready to pleasure her with her mouth like she was caressing her with her gentle fingers. Mary Alice was the first woman the brunette had ever slept with and she was so very eager to learn. However, oral sex still seemed to be a taboo for her.

Mary Alice cupped Bella's full breast in her right hand, feeling the rosy nipple pebble when she rubbed her thumb over it. Her legs started quivering slightly and when Bella added a third finger to the other two, the waves of her release made her moan out loudly in pleasure.

After catching her breathe again, Mary Alice turned Bella around, parting her slim thighs to pull down her lover's soaked panties.

"Let me taste you."

"You don't have to do this, Aly."

Mary Alice rolled her eyes at that. She enjoyed pleasuring her beloved Bella with her mouth, savoring the tartness of her lust on her tongue.

"Just relax. Think of nothing."

Bella groaned as she felt the tip of Mary Alice's tongue circling over her clean shaven sex. The scent was intoxicating, musky and yet sweet at the same time, even sweeter somehow than she remembered.

Parting her lover's inner lips, she blew a tender kiss on each side of them before she continued licking her in slow circles. Up and down and up again, around the sensitive clit until Bella fisted her hand into the silky black curls on Mary Alice's head. Feeling her beloved girlfriend getting closer to her release, Mary Alice inserted two fingers into her entrance where Bella's inner muscles clasped around the delicate fingers.

Resting her head on her brunette lover's side, Mary Alice caressed the inside of her thighs for moment.

"I missed you so much, Bella."

"I missed you more."

"Me or the things I do to you?"

"I missed you doing the things you do to me. But now, you'll have to let me go."

"So have I? What if I refuse to let you go? You'll only be here in Seattle for a few days."

"If you don't let me go, I'm going to pee on your couch...that would be difficult to explain to your secretary."

Mary Alice giggled, planting a last kiss underneath Bella's belly button before standing up from the couch again. She put her clothes back on, twisted her messy hair around her fingers to fix it with a pen and walked to her desk, pulling the tiny velvet box out of the drawer. Taking a last look at the platinum heart on the delicate bracelet, she caressed it with her fingertips for a last time. Bella didn't like her spending money on her but she knew that her lover would like the bracelet a great deal. Mary Alice had even let them carve an inscription into it.

**I'm yours. For today, for tomorrow and for all days to come. A.**

Closing the box of the bracelet, Mary Alice walked over to where Bella had carelessly dropped her handbag on the ground. When she opened it in order to place the box inside of it, she accidentally dropped the entire content of the handbag all over the floor. Quickly, she started picking everything up and was almost finished when her fingers grabbed a small tablet tube.

Since when had Bella started taking vitamins? Then she took a closer at the tablet tube. Somehow it seemed familiar to her but she couldn't place it.

Prenatal? Why in heaven's name would Bella be taking prenatal vitamins?

Bella returned, and Mary Alice's mouth opened and closed for about three times until she managed to bring out the words.

"Please tell me you bought these for a friend."

"Aly, please, let me explain. I just…"

"You just what? I can't believe you did this to me! You know how important loyalty is to me and now you cheated on me, with a guy on top of it?...I think, I'm going to be sick."

"Aly, calm down, let me explain."

"This is nothing you can explain for fucks sake! I hate you. Get out of my sight. I never want to see you again."

"Aly, please, don't say things like that! Let me explain."

"I don't want to hear your excuses. Leave! Just leave! I can't endure being in the same room with you."

"I love you, you and no one else."

"If you'd loved me, you wouldn't have—"

Throwing Bella's jacket out of the office, Mary Alice felt her entire body starting to tremble. Her eyes burned but she knew that the tears wouldn't fall, no matter how much she wanted to cry. Eventually the brunette woman left, several sobs escaping her throat. Mary Alice thought it unfair that it seemed so easy for Bella to let her guards down when it was so utterly impossible for herself.

She needed a drink. Hell, she needed way more than one drink and she knew exactly with whom she was going to have them.

**XOXOXOXOXOXXOXO**

[A/N] I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of **Soul Laws**. Follow my Alice on Twitter

_** Laws4Bellice**_ and say hi to her.


	2. Chapter 2

[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] Thanks & hugs for the lovely reviews, I appreciate your encouraging feedback a lot.

To **Jemma**: I assume there is some sort of Database for the citizens in most western countries. We'll find out why they still didn't find Alice but that will take a while.

This chapter is dedicated to **CULLENCRAZY1** & **sir nick7** for being my first two reviewers. I hope you'll enjoy.

****Chapter 2****

_The drunk mind speaks the sober heart_

_(Author unknown)_

Mary Alice sipped hesitantly on the glass of crisp white wine, trying to ignore the constant beeping of her cell next to her. She didn't want to read what Bella had to tell her, couldn't endure the sound of her melodic voice on the other line. Deep inside her, Mary Alice was numb and the place where her heart had been beating in her chest just a few hours ago was now a cold grave.

Another message from Bella, when was she finally going to give it a rest?

She sighed, finally managing to bring up enough energy to switch her cell to silent. The quick glimpse she dared to take on the tiny screen already showed eight new messages and several missed calls.

Mary Alice hoped that Bella would just give up and leave her alone. If she ignored her then maybe she would get the hint and just take the next flight back home to Chicago. After all, what was there left to talk about? Bella had cheated on her.

She had betrayed her, taken the beauty that was once their love and thrown dirt on it. Mary Alice's heart cramped. So, it wasn't completely numb by now? She could still feel the pain, all this horrible pain and she swallowed an entire mouthful of wine in a desperate attempt to drown her emotions in the alcohol. Wasn't that what other people did all the time when they were miserable?

"Did you card her?" Jasper asked the bartender before sitting down on the chair next to her. He had changed his dark suit for a pair of jeans, polo shirt and a plain brown leather jacket. In these clothes he looked more like himself to her. Mary Alice liked it better that way.

"Does she look old enough to you to drink?" he continued, making the bald bartender pale underneath his sweaty face. "It's a federal crime to serve alcohol to people under-,"

Mary Alice pulled her driver's license out of her purse, waving with it in front of the poor man's face until he sighed in relief. "There. No reason to get all agitated." She frowned. It wasn't her fault that she still looked young enough to be twenty although she had a teenage boy sitting at home. Well, Mary Alice hoped Matt would be home by now.

"You should have made sure she's over twenty-one before you served that wine to her."

"Sir, I…,"

"Leave the man alone and let him do his job, Jasper. By the way, you kept me waiting a long time and you know I can't stand that."

Jasper ducked his head and smirked, exposing a bit too much teeth with his grin. "I'm sorry Ma'am." Gulping the brownish liquid of the whisky down his throat, he instantly ordered a second drink while Mary Alice started nibbling on the bowl full with salty peanuts.

"Cheers, Aly."

When he started with whisky things would most likely turn bad. Alcohol wasn't good for anyone, but for Jasper it was like poison. A devilish potion that was able to bring out his worst sides. She felt a wave of guilt rushing through her for asking him to come to this bar with her tonight, but the thing was she couldn't endure to be on her own tonight.

A grown left his mouth when he drank down the second glass.

"Can't you just have a beer?" she suggested, running her fingertip over the edge of her own glass.

"I drink beer when I'm with my wife, but with you I can be myself. Maria talked me into not having any more of the good stuff inside the house. So this is the only place where I can drink as much as I want to."

"That's probably not such a good idea. You turn into a monster when you're drunk."

"You don't know a thing about the real monsters out there, Aly, probably because you don't remember your childhood. I on the other hand remember every fucking detail about mine."

"Jasper, I'm sorry."

"Well, forget it. No need to warm up the old stories again. Cheers to your first day in court. I know, you'll be a wonderful lawyer one day. Assuming you stop working for those arrogant King fuckers, you'll be great. Want to know why?"

"Is it because I'm so incredibly competent?" she asked him teasingly, fluttering her eyelashes at him like tiny little butterfly wings.

He chuckled, lifting the third glass with whisky to his lips, emptying it with a single gulp.

"No, Aly. There are a lot of competent people out there. You'll be way better than them though, and not only because you are smart, but because you have this," he reached out his hand to rub his thumb down her cheekbone. "You have this face like a little doll, so sweet and innocent. When I first saw you I thought you to be an angel."

"I don't see the connection between my face and my job. Should I wear more make-up to appear older?"

"I don't care too much for that crap women smear on their faces. Look, Aly, the way you look is your biggest plus. People are most likely to believe what someone says from those who appear likeable."

Mary Alice finished her wine and before she could protest, Jasper ordered two new shots of whisky for both of them. She had drunk hard liquor very randomly before and each time it had made her sick afterwards.

"You look unhappy tonight." He stated after staring at her for a couple of silent minutes.

"I don't want to talk about it. Can we just sit here and drink? How long will it take until I'm completely sloshed?"

"Not long, if you're trying to keep up with me. Trust me, that's not a good plan."

"Hmm,"

"Do you think _she_…because I assume this is about _her_…is getting drunk too somewhere tonight…in another bar?"

Mary Alice drank down the bitterly whisky in her glass, frowning when the awful aftertaste didn't vanish instantly.

"I hope Bella doesn't do that."

"So, you still care about her. Maybe you should better go home and Skype with her."

"She's here, in Seattle…but I don't want to see Bella because I hate her. Drinking just wouldn't be a very good idea in her condition. Carlisle says alcohol has terrible influence on embryos."

"Embryo? She's going to have a baby? For real?"

"I don't wish to talk about it. I want to forget. I want to never think about her again for as long as I shall live."

"Oh Aly, that's a pretty long time to be mad at someone you still love, don't you think? Who's the father?"

"What does it matter?"

"Didn't you ask her?"

She pointed at the empty glasses in front of them when the bartender looked in her direction.

"I don't want to know about him. The thought is too nauseating for me."

"Are they together now? I mean did she leave you for that guy…whoever he may be?"

Mary Alice held her breathe as she quickly swallowed her next drink. Warmth filled her stomach and she was sure her cheeks had turned into a bright pinkish color by now.

"She said she loves me. She said she loves me. She said she loves me."

He wrapped his arm around her dainty shoulder, twisting his fingers through her hair to loosen the knot at the back of her head.

"It looks better when you wear it down."

"Doesn't matter how I look anymore. Bella said she loved me. She said she loved me and I was stupid enough to believe her."

"You are not stupid. Just for the record, everyone loves you. It's impossible to not love you."

"I hate her. She cheated on me. She fucked around with someone else, while I was working my ass off to get transferred to Chicago to be with her."

"You don't hate her, Aly. You are just pretty pissed at her, but that's not the same."

"How do you know I don't hate her?"

"Because I know you could never hate someone you love. There is no one out there who can love someone the way you do Bella."

"I don't want to love someone who has betrayed me like that."

"Is she in love with that guy who knocked her up?"

"No…no, I don't think so."

"So, it was just sex. Not a big deal."

"Not a big deal? What would you do if Maria would cheat on you with another guy?"

"That depends," he murmured, finishing his drink with a groan.

"Whether she loved him or not?"

"No, it would depend on if she had screwed me with an American or a Mexican. I'd kill the American and bury his body somewhere near the docks. The Mexican guy would sure as hell be back on the first plane to Mexico faster than he could blink."

"Would you forgive her? Could you forgive her?"

"I probably would, because I know that love and sex are two completely different things. Maria means a lot to me and there's Lucy too. Losing Maria would mean losing the child as well."

"I don't understand how Bella could do that to me. She said she loved me."

"People have an unpleasant tendency to mess up. That doesn't mean she loves you any less. It just means she is not as perfect as you thought her to be."

"I know she's not perfect. Which perfect woman owns only eight pairs of shoes? She is stubborn and reads books while she slurps her oatmeal through a straw instead of having a proper breakfast. She is chaotic and moody…but man that girl can kiss."

"Oh Aly, silly, you still love her no matter what she has done to you."

Mary Alice forced another glass filled with the disgustingly bitter whisky down her throat. Wasn't alcohol supposed to start tasting better with every shot you had? She took another look on her cell, noticing the new messages and missed calls on it. Her fingers twitched but she refused to read them, because nothing Bella could have written in them, nothing she could have said could make a difference. There was nothing that could undo what she did to Mary Alice.

Her mind, already clouded by the alcohol she had consumed, drifted to the faceless man with whom Bella had betrayed her. Was he handsome? Maybe a doctor from the hospital she worked in? Maybe a patient she had been taken care of? Did she kiss him the way Bella used to kiss her? Mary Alice touched her lower lip with her fingertip and the thought of never again feeling her beloved's warm breathe against her mouth made her eyes burn with the tears she was unable to cry.

"Can't I do anything to stop loving her?" she asked Jasper, who had somehow managed to get a hold of the bottle of whisky. His blue eyes looked glassy and lifeless while he continued taking one sip after the other.

"Enough, Jasper. I think you had enough for tonight."

"You're not my wife for fucks sake!"

"Do you want me to call Maria to pick you up?"

"Like you'd do that, I know your Spanish sucks."

"I could tell the little one to tell her mother. Trust me…you don't want that to happen."

"Stupid bitch."

"You are just saying that because you're drunk. Give me the bottle, Jasper." She tried to grab the bottle from him but he chuckled and stood up from his chair, holding it high up above his head where Mary Alice sure as hell wouldn't be able to reach it. She had always detested her lack in size, trying to make it up by constantly wearing high heels.

Following him outside, she smacked him against his back with her handbag.

"Drop that bottle, Whitlock."

He chuckled again and lowered the bottle, holding it directly against Mary Alice's lips.

"I don't mind sharing, Brandon."

He pressed the bottle against her mouth making her cough when she couldn't swallow fast enough.

"There is nothing you can do."

"Nothing I can do about what?" she murmured, taking another gulp directly out of the bottle. It was gross to drink like that but Mary Alice already had too much of the alcohol in her blood to care enough to stop now. Bella's face kept showing up in her mind and she drank greedily until Jasper forcefully pulled the bottle out of her hands again.

"You should see yourself now. You really must care for Bella a lot if you let yourself go like that. Now, catch yourself a taxi, because you sure as hell shouldn't be driving."

"What about you?'" she muttered, rubbing her arms in order to fight the chillness of the night. The cold inside of her was worse though, much worse.

"Doesn't matter," he prattled, leaning back against some trash cans. When he pulled up the sleeve of his jacket a bit, he exposed several of the small jagged scars. When he noticed her staring at them, he quickly pulled the sleeve down again.

"Look away. I don't need your fucking pity. I don't need anyone to pity me. Leave me the fuck alone!"

It scared her if he got angry like that and because she was starting to feel sick too, she called a taxi and tried very hard not to throw up during the ride back to her house. She had rented it a few months ago, and although Esme had helped her to decorate everything beautifully, it still didn't feel like a home to her.

Fumbling for her keys in her handbag, she leaned forward to steady herself against the frame of the door. When she stumbled inside, the heel of her left shoe broke off as she climbed over the threshold. Her stomach cramped and with her hand pressed tightly against her mouth, she managed to make it to the bathroom before the first wave of acidly vomit made its way up her throat. She kneeled down in front of the toilet, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand while she tried to avoid getting her hair dirty.

Suddenly someone was behind her, holding her hair back as another wave of nausea came over her.

"Go back to bed. I don't want you to see me like this."

"Be still." He murmured, rubbing her back in small circles until there was nothing left in Mary Alice's stomach. Her throat was sore, her head dizzy and with a last groan she collapsed against the bathtub behind her, burying her head in her hands. When she raised it for a split second it sent a sharp pain through her skull.

"I said go back to sleep. You have school tomorrow morning, for crying out loud."

"Maybe I should call Carlisle. You might have alcohol poisoning."

"What is a gynecologist supposed to do about that? If you want to make yourself useful, bring me a glass of water…and some aspirin, if we have some. Check the cupboard in the kitchen."

She managed to stand up to wash her face and rinse her mouth. She shrugged back when she saw her make-up smeared face staring back at her in the mirror.

The boy returned, handing May Alice a small pill and a glass of water.

"Small sips," he instructed, before he gently wiped a wet cloth over her heated face

"I could stay home tomorrow to take care of you."

"Don't you dare, Matt. You're going to school, no matter what. Go back to bed and try to sleep. I'm sorry for waking you up."

"It's okay, Aly."

"The name is Mom."

"Yes, Aly. Moms don't drink themselves into a delirium on a weekday."

"Are you trying to tell me I'm a bad mother?"

"We can talk about that another time, when you are sober again. Now let me help you to your room before you break a leg on your way up there."

Stumbling up the stairs, Mary Alice wondered if her son had grown once more. She assumed his father, whoever he had been, must have been tall.

When they entered her bedroom, she tossed the comforter covered with the rose-petals carelessly to the ground. Bella would have loved that. She's such a romantic person and Mary Alice loves to surprise her with that sort of thing. Well, she had _loved._

"Where is Bella?" he asked her, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Doesn't matter to me,"

"What happened? Did the two of you have a fight? Look if it's about this move to Chicago, I already told you I want to stay here in Seattle with Mom and Dad so that you and her could have more privacy."

"I'm going to stay here too. Why would I go to Chicago, now that Bella and I are over?"

"You broke up? Why? I thought you and her were so close-"

"Matt, for the last time now, go to bed. You are too young to understand this sort of thing. Actually, you can stay. Let this be a warning to you. Love sucks. Love is crap because it makes you vulnerable."

He sighed, handing her the glass of water again.

"I'll get you some more from the kitchen. You're thirsty now, aren't you?"

She nodded her head, pressing her cheek against the pleasantly cool pillow.

When Matt returned and placed a bottle of water on her nightstand, her mouth curled into a small smile.

"You're not going to tell Esme about this. She wouldn't like it."

"Your alcohol excess is safe with me. Did you drink on your own?"

"No, with Jasper, but he had way more than I did."

"If you were trying to keep up with him, you'd end up in the hospital. Mom says that J. is an alcoholic and needs therapy."

"Esme needs to mind her own business."

"She just worries because she cares, that's what mothers do. Are you going to tell me what happened with you and Bella? She was the nicest of all the women you dated."

"She…she…said she loved me." Mary Alice started with a quivering voice. "She said she loved me. She said we'd be together forever."

He grabbed the blanket from the floor, wrapping it around Mary Alice's body like a tight cocoon.

"She screwed me, fucked around with some random shithead. I hate her! I hate her so fucking much…"

"I'm sorry about that, Aly. Try to sleep now. I'll wake you up before I go to school."

"Esme raised me a good son." She whispered tiredly as he leaned down to plant a quick kiss on her forehead. When he closed the door quietly behind him Mary Alice had already drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.

**§§SL§§**

The next morning, after taking a refreshingly cold shower and another dose of painkillers, due to the throbbing pain in her head, Mary Alice walked down to her kitchen to find Matt sitting on one of the kitchen chairs, nibbling on a cold Pop tart.

"Morning, Aly. Are you feeling a bit better now?"

"I feel how I deserve to feel. And please, don't speak so loud it hurts my ears."

"'Kay."

"Do we have bread?"

"Have you bought some?"

She shook her head, pulling a box with eggs out of the fridge to crack them open in a bowl.

"I'm not very good at being a housekeeper."

"Your talents lay elsewhere. Did you screw that half-faced woman yesterday?"

"We didn't screw her. It was just my job to prove that her cousin didn't make her dog attack her on purpose. My intent was to convince the jury that it was nothing but an accident."

"Whatever. Can I have some scrambled eggs too?"

"Aren't you going to be late for school? You'll miss the bus."

"School sucks."

"It wouldn't suck that much if you finally started working a bit harder to improve your grades. All these extra lessons I'm paying that senior girl…Dolores…or what's her name…to give you, they should start showing some effect by now."

"Her name is Damaris and it's not her fault that my brain is so slow. She does what she can to get some knowledge into my thick scull." Then he cleared his throat nervously. "Aly, can I ask you something about girls?"

"Wear a condom, every goddamn time. Even if she tells you she's on the pill. I don't want you to fuck up your life by getting someone pregnant accidentally."

He frowned, running his fingers through his short cropped hair that was now a darker blond color.

"My question wasn't about sex. I have Dad and J. to talk about that if I feel like it. I wanted to know how you ask someone out…like for a date."

Mary Alice was so puzzled that she almost burned the eggs in the pan because she forgot to stir them around.

"Just ask her. It's not that difficult."

"With her it is difficult, because she's older."

"Older? How much older does older mean?"

"I have to leave now. Try to act like a grown-up today. We need you to keep your job in order to afford this place."

When he was gone, she sat down on the table, munching the food down mechanically bite by bite. At first it was so hot that she burned her tongue on the eggs. Then she realized that she had put too much salt on them. Dumping the rest into the trash bin underneath the sink, she decided a cup of coffee would better help her to make it through this awful morning.

The phone rang and automatically she picked up before checking the number flashing across the screen.

"Brandon."

"Aly? Oh, thank God. Please don't hang up on me now. We need to…,"

"There is no _we_, Bella. _We_ stopped existing when you let some fucker put his dick inside of you."

"Aly, please let me explain. I love you."

"I love you too…but I hate you more. I hate what you have done to me…to us. You fucking destroyed what we had, _all_ we had."

"Don't say that. I love you and I can't be without you. Can I come to your office later, so that we can talk?"

"I have meetings with my boss and I honestly don't think I can endure seeing you in person. It might get ugly."

"If it makes you feel better you can yell at me. Scream and bitch at me, if you're just going to talk to me and forg-,"

"Don't ask me to forgive you. I hate cheating more than anything and you knew that!"

"Aly, please, it's not like that."

"Then how's it like? No, don't tell me. It means shit to me anyway."

There was a long pause on the phone before Aly heard Bella starting to sob into the receiver. It hurt her that she was crying and that probably meant Jasper had been right last night. She still cared, cared too much, because technically she shouldn't be caring at all. Bella had fucked up, fucked up worse than anyone should fuck up.

"Are you going to keep it?"

"Would that make a difference?"

"No, it wouldn't. It is your choice whether you want to have that child or not. If you want me I could ask Carlisle to-,"

"I have a gynecologist back home in Chicago, but thanks for your concern about my medical treatment."

"You're welcome. You should go to that Italian restaurant I booked for us tonight. It took me two months to get a reservation in that place."

"Are you going to come too? Please, say yes."

"Bella, I don't think I can."

With that she hung up, cupping her face between both of her hands, a dry sob escaping her lips. She wondered why she couldn't cry no matter how much she felt like it. Had it been like that her entire life?

Pulling her cell out of her handbag to check her appointments, she finally started reading through the pile of text messages Bella had left her the night before.

**Aly, please pick up the phone. We need to talk.**

**Aly, please.**

**Pick up.**

**Please, pick up.**

**I get it, you're mad at me. No problem with that. Call me and yell at me, if you want to.**

**I love you. Call back. B.**

**Aly, I'm very tempted to call the police or the hospitals just to make sure you are ok. I love you. Please call back. B**

Mary Alice took a last sip from the already cold coffee in front of her, trying to see anything else apart from Bella's face which appeared whenever she closed her eyes for a split second. She then went upstairs, searching an acceptable outfit for the day. She searched for something that said 'I look old enough to be a lawyer and not like a stupid college girl who just got her naïve heart broken.'

The truth was, Mary Alice was naïve when it came to love, having focused mainly on her education in the last years. Somehow, desperate to prove it to her foster parents and the rest of the world that she could be anything she wanted to be. That she could be anyone she wanted to be.

Most of all Mary Alice wanted to be loved and the thought that Bella, the person who had claimed to love her most, had betrayed her was like a tumor; feeding off her heart from the inside out.

"She said she loves me." Mary Alice mumbled, twisting her shoulder-long curls into a strict knot at the back of her head. Applying some concealer underneath her grey eyes, she forced her lips into grimace meant to look like a polite smile.

Stepping into a navy blue suit and a pair of even higher heels than yesterday, Mary Alice turned around in front of the huge mirror in her bedroom.

Not that bad, she thought and another smile, almost a real one, flashed over her face for a moment.

She was just about to leave when she noticed the little reddish mark on the left side of her throat. Damn it! Quickly, she wrapped a cream colored silk scarf around her neck to hide the hickey.

If only it would be as easy as that to cover up her emotions, she thought when she eventually made her way out of the house.

**XOXXXOXXOXXOXXO**

Follow my Alice on Twitter _**Laws4Bellice**_ and say hi to her if you feel like it.

Until next time, take care


	3. Chapter 3

[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to SM

[A/N] A lot of you seem to be pretty pissed at the way Alice is handling the situation. I hope you'll still keep on reading the story.

This chapter here is dedicated to **Secrets87** for always being so supportive about my writing.

****Chapter 3****

_Be kind to your shadow_

_(Rebecca Lawless)_

Mary Alice's boss Mr. Royce King Senior was an intimidating man, both physically and socially. He wasn't overly tall but carried way too much weight around his middle section. When he raised his bearish voice it made everyone in his environment, including his own son jump in an instant.

According to himself he was a not so simple man with a very simple taste. The best was always just good enough to him and Mary Alice worked very hard to convince him she was the best he could have hired. She knew that his own grandfather had started the successful law firm a few decades ago and he himself had managed to make it to one of the most profitable ones in the entire country.

When Mary Alice entered his office, he was about to read through a newspaper while he was stuffing a blueberry muffin between his lips.

"Good Morning, Mr. King." she greeted him, waiting for him to gesture her to sit down on the leather chair in front of his polished mahogany desk.

"It's nice to see you, Miss Brandon. I'm very content with the work you did on that Clearwater case. That was a tricky one."

"Thank you, Mr. King."

"You are welcome. Mr. Shannon told me you worked hard on it. I truly wish my son would be half as ambitious as you seem to be. It kind of impresses me when a young person knows what he or she wants and is willing to achieve that goal with hard labor."

"Yes, sir, that's always a good thing; I guess. I enjoy working for King & Son a lot. It's a great law firm and I can still learn so much while I'm here."

He stood up from his chair, walking to the window at the other side of his huge office. For a long moment he was still and Mary Alice wondered if he probably expected her to do some small talk now. That wasn't something she was too good at. Well, at least not in business. He wouldn't be that interested in the sale the Louboutin's shop was going to have next Tuesday, would he?

"I have some exciting news; I wanted to share with you this morning."

"That's wonderful, Mr. King. What kind of news?"

"We're finally ready to open our new office in Chicago. That will give my lazy son a chance to show me of what he is truly capable. There are only two things I expect from him. Even someone as stupid as my Royce should be able to handle that."

"Sure, Mr. King,"

"First one is to make that business in Illinois as big as the one here in Washington."

"What's the second one?" Mary Alice asked him, playing nervously with the pearl buttons on the sleeve of her blouse.

Mr. King smirked, turning the silver framed picture on his desk around so that Mary Alice could take a look at the photograph.

"That's my grandfather, my Dad Andrew and I guess you already know Royce? It is his responsibility to make sure there'll be a new generation in the King family. I want a grandchild. It is time. He and Rosalie have been married for over two years now."

Mary Alice nodded her head silently and granted her boss a faked smile. Royce King Junior was a sleaze ball and his wife was a horribly superficial person who had the intellectual depth of a puddle.

"He is going to need some assistance down there and here's where you come into game."

"Sir, I don't think I understand."

"You told Mr. Shannon that you would like it very much to be transferred to Chicago. Now, here's your chance. Congratulations."

A surprised gasp left Mary Alice's mouth and it took her a moment to get her facial expression under control again. Yes, of course she had wanted to get a job in Chicago but that was before the whole Bella incident. There was no way she wanted to work anywhere close to the woman who had hurt her feelings so deeply. But that sure wasn't something she could tell Mr. King about. Usually Mary Alice was very open when it came to her orientation but she had decided that it would probably be better to keep her private life separate from her work one.

"Miss Brandon, you seem a bit puzzled. Do you have any questions concerning your new position?"

"Yes, Mr. King. Look, I'm thrilled about the trust you seem to be having in my abilities but I'd prefer staying here in Seattle where-,"

"You don't want to go to Chicago, since when?"

"Personal reasons," she stated as calmly as possible.

"Miss Brandon, let me speak openly to you. I don't care about your private life. But if you are worried about your boy switching school in the middle of the trimester; no need to worry about that. King & Son will be happy to pay for an excellent public school in Chicago."

"Thank you, Sir."

"No big deal. Look, I understand if you are nervous but you are smart and will surely be able to be of great help for Royce."

Her hands touched the silk scarf around her neck as she nodded her head in agreement. She had worked with Royce Junior before. That usually meant to do all the researches on her own while he would just command her around like a tyrant.

She left King's office and walked straight into a widely grinning Jessica Stanley who was balancing a huge pile of records she was supposed to copy on her left hip.

"Good Morning, Aly. You didn't stay too long last night did you? Jeez, you look tired. Let me fetch you some coffee and then we'll talk. Vera, King's secretary told me that he has chosen you for the Chicago job. Oh how much I wished I could come with you."

"Wouldn't you miss Mike if you went there? Long distance relationships aren't an easy thing to deal with."

"Oh Aly, what would you know about relationships? You are in love with your job and no one else."

Following her boss inside the office the young secretary sat down on the edge of Mary Alice's desk.

It was then that she noticed the two bouquets of flowers standing on it, sunflowers in the one and some deep red roses in the second one.

"Read the cards. I want to know who sent them. Isn't that amazing? Now you have two admirers, not just one."

Mary Alice ripped the tiny yellow envelope that was attached to the sunflowers open.

_Aly,_

_I hope you like the flowers. Lucy helped me to choose them. Keep your head up high. Love is a bitch but so is life._

_I hug you._

_J._

"Who is it from?" Jessica asked her curiously, nibbling on the French manicure on her fingernails.

"It's from a friend, a very old friend."

"How boring…now, look at the other one. Red roses are so romantic. That sure has to mean something."

"Don't you have anything to do, Jess? Bring me the copy of the Crowley case. Mr. Shannon probably still has it in his office."

"Sure, Aly. I'll get it for you."

When Jessica was gone, Mary Alice opened the plain white card with sweaty fingertips.

_Dear Aly,_

_You said you hate me but that won't change that I'll love you forever. It is because of you that I know what love is. Please talk to me and let me make this okay again. Let me make us okay again because things are not always like you think they are._

_Always yours,_

_Bella_

She re-read the letter twice, running her fingertip over the black ink on the paper before she put it into her drawer, hiding it underneath a thick folder.

For a moment she hesitated but then she took a deep breath and dialed Bella's cell not even sure what she was going to tell her. Should she ask her to leave her alone? Yes, that would probably be the right thing to do.

"Swan,"

"You didn't have to spend so much money on flowers."

"Aly!"

Mary Alice heard her slurp on something on the other end of the line and rolled her eyes at that.

"Did you sleep well?" Mary Alice asked her, rubbing her temples because the effect of the painkiller was starting to lessen again.

"Not a single minute. Can we please talk about things now? I feel horrible knowing that you are so angry at me."

"Maybe you should have thought about it before you started to mess around with someone else."

"You honestly think I would cheat on you? You think so low of me?"

"Bella, please, my head is killing me right now. It is pretty obvious what you have done, or it will be in a few months."

"If you'd love me you'd trust me a bit more."

"If you'd love me you wouldn't— Just forget it. We are over. Don't send flowers to my office again. My secretary is a bit too curious."

"Don't say we are over. I love you."

"I love you too, more than you deserve it after what you did to me."

There was some groaning noise followed by some running water a few moments later.

"Bella?"

"I'm sorry. My stomach is a bit upset right now. I guess, it must be the nerves."

"I'm pretty sure it is not your nerves. Let me give you a little tip. Stay away from Starbucks in the next weeks because the smell of coffee will not have a very pleasant effect on you. It always made me sick during my pregnancy."

There was a sob on the other end of the line and it seemed to take forever until Bella finally spoke up again.

"I should have told you earlier but I was so, so afraid you wouldn't understand. And now I messed up everything, just everything."

She disconnected the call and Mary Alice fought the urge to throw her phone against the wall. Then she took one of the rose blossoms and crumbled it between her fingers.

"Don't destroy the pretty flowers." Jessica murmured breathlessly, placing the record with the Crowley case directly in front of Mary Alice.

"Anything else you need?"

"Bring me some Tylenol, if you can get some from the pharmacy on the second floor and then I'd like to go through the rest of today's appointments with you."

"Sure, Aly. I think I have some Tylenol in my handbag. Let me get it for you."

When she returned and handed the pills to Mary Alice, the young woman swallowed them with the rest of her coffee.

"Do you want to hear something exciting?" the secretary whispered, leaning over to speak directly into Mary Alice's ear.

"Is it work related?"

"In a way,"

"What in heaven's name is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, do you remember that stalker guy who followed _the Queen_ around like 24/7?"

"Have they finally arrested that perverted swine?"

"No, they haven't. The police still haven't managed to identify him. There weren't any fingerprints on the creepy letters he sent her and the only time _the Queen_ actually saw his face it was too dark. So, no one knows how the stalker looks like."

Mary Alice crossed her arms in front of her chest and nodded her head. The entire company knew that the boss's beautiful daughter in law had been followed by an unwanted admirer for the last weeks. He had sent her some disgustingly pictures from porn magazines, scrawling notes around them to point out which of them he wanted to try with her first. It was so sick.

"It is frightening isn't it? Well, _the Queen_ is sure as hell going to feel way safer from now on."

"How can she feel safe knowing that bastard is still out there somewhere? Oh I get it. They hope he's going to lose interest in her once she and Royce move to Chicago."

"No, Aly, it's not like that. Royce has ordered a bodyguard to protect her."

"A bodyguard? For shit?"

"He looks scary. The guy is a man like a tree, tall and at least two-hundred pounds of muscle."

**§§SL§§**

Nibbling on an awfully dry sandwich she had bought at the Deli around the corner, Mary Alice tried hard to concentrate on her work and not on the beautiful brunette who was probably crying her eyes out right now in some lonely hotel room.

She read through the Crowley case, realizing that road traffic accidents would never be her favorite thing to work at. Tyler Crowley was a stupid teenage boy who hadn't been able to handle his father's van on the icy streets. The result was a collision with the rental car of a couple from Florida.

The man, a recently retired baseball player who now worked as a personal Trainer for bored suburb housewives had survived the ugly incident without much more than a few scratches.

His wife though hadn't been that lucky. Referring to the police records, she hadn't been wearing her seatbelt and so the intensity of the crash had damaged her spine irrevocably, paralyzing the kindergarten teacher down from the hip. The doctors had done everything in their power but the chances that Renee Dwyer would ever be able leave her wheelchair were close to zero.

Mary Alice made a note on the missing seatbelt. This was going to be her main argument in court. If R. Dwyer had been responsibly enough to wear one—yeah, that was going to be a good point to start her argumentation. She could work with that. Maybe she should suggest to the Crowley's that their son should do some voluntary work in a hospital. That would make him look good to the jury.

She sipped on the caramel macchiato next to her and closed her eyes for a moment.

Everything could be so perfect now. She and Bella would be celebrating Mary Alice's new job in Chicago by drinking sparkling champagne out of each other's navels tonight. The very thought made her insides tingle but she quickly tried to shove it away again. The two of them were over. Everything was over. She wouldn't waste one more thought about the woman who had captured her heart and broken it within the blink of an eye.

The thing was that Mary Alice always found it especially hard to stop focusing on things that were important to her and during the last year nothing had been more important to her than the warm-hearted nurse from Chicago.

She pulled out her cell, scrolling through the hundreds of emails the two of them had written to each other.

_**to: AlyBrandon ( ) hotmail ( . ) com**_

_**from: IsabellaSwan ( ) gmail ( . ) com**_

_Aly,_

_I'm sorry for taking so long to respond to your last email. I know you don't like it when someone keeps you waiting._

_Your words made me nervous and while I'm typing this my face is a bright crimson red._

_I want to kiss that little freckle on your shoulder blade so very badly._

_Only two more weeks until we finally meet in person,_

_B._

_**to: IsabellaSwan ( ) gmail ( . ) com**_

_**from: AlyBrandon ( ) hotmail ( . ) com**_

_Bella, my sweet, sweet Bella,_

_Don't be nervous, everything will be fine. I love you._

_PS: I love you even more knowing I managed to make your pretty cheeks blush with my compliments._

_Kiss_

_A_

_**to: AlyBrandon ( ) hotmail ( . ) com**_

_**from: IsabellaSwan ( ) gmail ( . ) com**_

_Aly, oh Aly…_

_How can I not be nervous? You already mean so much to me and the thought of finally feeling that pretty mouth of yours against mine makes me so tingly._

_Only thirteen more days…_

_PS: I love you more. But you need to stop wearing those heels all the time. They are bad for your feet._

_B._

**to: IsabellaSwan ( ) gmail ( . ) com**

**From: AlyBrandon ( ) hotmail ( . ) com**

_Bella,_

_No commends about my choice of shoes. This is not a topic I'm open for discussions about. _

_You'll see how good I'm able to run in my new Louboutin's when I pick you up at SeaTac._

_I kiss your lips very gently in my thoughts. Can you feel it?_

_A._

Mary Alice's fingers trembled as she read through the little messages the two of them had sent each other and she couldn't find the strength in her to delete just one of them. Each single email was a visible proof of what had been, what could have been in the future. What would have been if Bella hadn't been so stupid to fuck around with someone else…

When the phone started ringing and she noticed her foster mother's name flashing over the screen, she picked up, utterly glad for any kind of distraction.

"Hello,"

"Oh Sweet-cheeks are you alright? You sound sad somehow."

"It's nothing. I'm just tired." she murmured, taking another sip from her drink.

"See, I told you that working plus handling Matt and the housework will be too much for you. I don't know why you had to move out at all."

"Esme, please, I don't want to have that discussion again."

"Fine, just make sure that the boy washes all that gel out of his hair before he goes to bed. It is not good for his skin problems. Dr. Vernon said that he should only use baby shampoo because that's milder."

"Am I supposed to wash his hair as if he's a toddler? If Matt doesn't like the shampoo I'm buying, he's old enough to get some other one by himself."

"See, it annoys you to take care of him. Let him move back to live with Carlisle and me. You can visit him whenever-,"

"Esme, I don't want that. It's been like that his entire childhood. I've been a crappy mother but I want to make it right now. I love Matt."

"I love him too. I love you both and I hate that you are stressing yourself out like that. Are the two of you eating properly at least?"

"Yes, of course."

"What did you have for Lunch?"

"Sandwich,"

"You should eat something warm. What is Matt having?"

"How should I know? Whatever they sell in the school cafeteria, I guess."

"They only serve junk food there. You need to make sure that he has some salad or vegetables as well. The boy is still growing and needs some vitamins."

"I hope he doesn't grow that much anymore. He makes me feel like a dwarf when I take my shoes off."

She heard Esme clear her throat at the other end of the line before speaking up again.

"Look, I wanted to ask if you and Matt wanted to have Dinner with me and Carlisle tonight. I'm going to makes this Chicken Casserole that you like so much."

Finishing the rest of the day by attending several boring meetings with Mr. Shannon, it was already starting to get dark when she was ready to leave her office. She fought the urge to call Bella. There was no reason to call her. They were over. It was over. After arguing with herself for a couple of minutes, she decided that she would call her. She would call Bella, just to make sure that her girlfriend, no, she corrected herself instantly; her ex-girlfriend was already back home in Chicago.

Instead of calling her she decided to send her an email. It was easier to hide her boiling emotions in one of those. If she spoke to Bella now, her voice would tremble awkwardly.

_**to: IsabellaSwan ( ) gmail ( . ) com**_

_**from: MaryAliceBrandon ( ) KingandSon ( . ) com**_

_Are you in Chicago yet? Just wanted to make sure you had a safe trip._

_A._

_**King & Son**_

_**Be royally defended**_

Bella's reply came a few moments later.

_**to: MaryAliceBrandon ( ) KingandSon ( . ) com**_

_**from: : IsabellaSwan ( ) gmail ( . ) com**_

_Royally defended? Well, whatever._

_I'm still in Seattle. Can we talk tonight? Please, say yes._

_B._

Mary Alice grabbed her jacket and another pile of files she was going to read later in bed tonight while she waited for the trembling in her fingers to stop enough so that she could type a response.

_**from: MaryAliceBrandon ( ) KingandSon ( . ) com**_

_**to: IsabellaSwan ( ) gmail ( . ) com**_

_I'm going to have Dinner with my foster parents. E. needs to make sure we have some real food now and then._

_PS: What is talking going to change? Nothing at all!_

_A_

_**King & Son**_

_**Be royally defended**_

Mary Alice closed the window and starred at her own reflection for a moment until the beeping on her laptop made her turn around again.

_**from: IsabellaSwan ( ) gmail ( . ) com**_

_**to: MaryAliceBrandon ( ) KingandSon ( . ) com**_

_I could cook for you at your place. You know, I love doing that._

_PS: I know you are mad at me for getting pregnant. Please, let me explain. God, this is so very difficult to explain._

_I love you,_

_B._

Checking the time on the screen in front of her, Mary Alice noticed that she was already going to be late for Dinner and so she turned off the laptop and made her way down to the parking space, where she fumbled simultaneously for her keys and her cell while balancing the records on her right hip.

When she sat down in her car, she sighed, loosening the knot at the back of her head so that her curls fell down her shoulders again.

She remembered Jasper telling her that he liked it better when she wore it down and started wondering if Bella shared his opinion. Quickly, she grabbed the cell and dialed her number.

"Hi, Aly, I'm so glad you called me but now that you have I don't know what to say."

"Same here, maybe because there actually isn't anything left to say."

"Don't talk like we are over. We can't be over. I love you. I love you so much."

"Bella, don't start crying again."

"I can't help it. You are so cold to me. You said you hate me. You…you…said,"

"Please, stop crying, it makes your pretty eyes look ugly."

"I don't care. Please, let me explain. I didn't mean to hurt you with this. God, everything is so fucked up, so fucked up."

"Stop crying, that's not good for the baby. Can I ask you something?"

"Anything, I'd tell you anything you want to know. Just tell me, we are going to be okay again. I need us to be okay again. Oh Aly, please...,"

"Breathe. Now exhale again. Breathe. Now, grab a tissue and clean your nose."

"Can't find one. What is it you wanted to know?"

"It's about my hair." Mary Alice started hesitantly, adjusting her seatbelt around her narrow waist.

"Your hair?" she sniffed into the receiver. "What about it?"

"Do you like it better when I wear it up or when I wear it down?"

"I like it best wrapped around my fingers when I kiss your mouth. Do you have any clue how much I missed you in Chicago? I wanted this visit to be special and now everything is so messed up."

Bella started sobbing again and Mary Alice's heart cramped painfully in her chest. She usually handled it well when people cried. A lot of clients did that when she talked to them in her office. Even Leah had cried when she had told her about her injured cousin who was trying to sue her now.

"Were you planning on telling me about the pregnancy?"

"Of course, I was. I just wanted to wait for the right moment."

"Let me give you a little clue, B.; there is no such. Not that it is any of my business but—"

"But what?"

"The father, the father of your baby, does he know?"


	4. Chapter 4

[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] I'm sending out big hugs to those of you who keep reading my little story here. Your encouragement means a lot.

This chapter here is dedicated to **Arael89** & **Bellice Fan**. I hope you'll enjoy this update.

Warnings: There's some reference to rape in this chapter. It's not graphic or anything but I still thought I let you know. Skip the part with the Tanya interview if you don't feel comfortable reading about this subject.

****Chapter 4****

_Admit your errors before someone else exaggerates them_

_(Andrew V. Mason_)

The Cullen's were nice people, warmhearted and kind. The Youth Care office had paid them to take care of Mary Alice for half a year but she had been living with them for more than ten. More so, they had raised the child she had given birth to when she still was not much more than a child herself.

If that wasn't love, Mary Alice thought, fumbling her key out of her handbag. She still owned one. This was her home, her true home, not just the place where she lived like the house she had rented for Matt and herself.

"Aly! You are here, finally!" Esme greeted her, throwing her arms around her neck. Mary Alice absorbed the familiar, comforting scent of lilac that always surrounded her foster mother.

"I'm sorry for being late. Work was busy today. Oh Esme, you didn't have to wait for me to start dinner."

"See, Mom, I told you she wouldn't mind. Now come here, Aly, before I'll starve to death in front of all the delicious food, Mom, made for us."

Mary Alice briefly hugged Carlisle who had his nose stuck in some medical magazine. She knew that his wife detested it when he was reading during meal times but today she was too busy to mother Matt as if he was a five year old.

"And how's School going, sweetie? Did you finish that Chemistry project you were supposed to do?"

"I didn't have enough time for it because Aly decided that I need to do my laundry all by myself. Now, my favorite shirt is so small that it could fit a doll. I hate all these housework crap."

"Do you think I enjoy it? I know that Esme has spoilt you but now it's time to grow up."

He frowned and turned his attention to the food on his plate, shoving several huge bites between his lips. Suddenly Mary Alice realized how famished she was and finished eating her own portion of the delicious food within minutes.

"Do you want some more, sweet cheeks? I also made some lemon pie for dessert."

Lemon pie was Mary Alice's all-time favorite. It would definitely be her last meal, should she ever be sentenced herself. In anticipation she licked a bit of greasy cheese from her lower lip, feeling how her mouth curled into a half-sided smile.

"Matt, would you get that pie for your mother, sweetie? Aly looks as if she could need something sweet."

He wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood up from his chair, disappearing into the kitchen next to the beautiful, cherry wood-furnished dining room of the Cullen's.

"Can't find it!"

"Fridge,"

"But it's not there, Mom!"

"Left side, sweetie." she instructed, piling the plates together while Mary Alice wondered if her son would like living with her better if she were more motherly herself. When he was little she never had the patience to pay enough attention to his needs and now that he was stuck in the purgatory of puberty, it seemed even more difficult to her. Bella on the other hand would be a wonderful mother. She knew, she would be amazing because she was warm-hearted and patient and basically everything Mary Alice wasn't herself.

Her other half, the one who made her complete like she had never assumed it to be possible to be complete.

"It's nice being home. You shouldn't have made yourself so much work with the whole cooking though."

"Oh Aly, that's not a big deal. You know I love doing that."

Mary Alice nodded her head, taking another sip from her water. When she was had started living with the Cullen's she had often wondered why Carlisle and Esme didn't have a bunch of at least four or five children of their own. Esme seemed to overflow with so much motherly love that it seemed odd to her to focus all that love on some stranger's kids.

The caramel haired woman smiled warmly at her, placing a piece of the delicious cream-crusted pie directly in front of her former foster daughter.

"How's your job going? They don't make you work too hard. Do they?"

"I can handle it. Mr. King, my boss is very thrilled that I managed to win my first case."

"Oh sweetie, that's wonderful. I'm so very proud of you. Matt aren't we proud of her?"

"Sure, Mom." He murmured, stuffing some pie between his lips.

"Carlisle?"

"Hmm?"

"Carlisle, put that stupid magazine away now. You know I can't stand it when you keep reading while we're eating."

"I'm able to focus on several things at the same time." he stated, throwing the magazine carelessly on the ground. Esme sighed deeply before she kneeled down to pick it up again, placing it in a small wooden box that held several others. It was no wonder her son was so terribly messy when his foster mother had been constantly cleaning up behind everyone. Why in heaven's name was she doing that?

"So, your boss is happy with you? I know he would be. King & Son is a respectable law firm no matter what Jasper may think about that."

"Do me a favor and don't mention that boy in my presence right now." Carlisle muttered, crumbling his piece of pie into small pieces as if he was trying to anatomize it.

"Why?"

"Well, his poor wife called me this morning because he came home totally drunk and she couldn't reach Peter to help her handle him. He and Charlotte are on a trip to Atlanta to visit his sick mother."

"Maria needs to stop throwing a tantrum whenever J. has a drink too much. He talks a lot of crap when he does but he doesn't actually mean the things he says. He is a not a bad person."

"You'll always find an excuse for him. You always did, for every wrong he does you have an explanation. Sometimes I wonder if the two of you wouldn't have been a good match."

"Oh Carlisle, you know I'm not that into guys at all and J.? Jeez, he's like my brother."

"I know, sweetie." Esme mumbled, cutting another piece of cake of to place it on Mary Alice's plate.

"Are you trying to feed me up? We're so going to miss your food when we move to Chicago."

"We're moving, Aly-? You said it would probably take at least another year."

"Mr. King wants me to help his son Royce to establish the new office down there. It's a great opportunity."

"For you, not for me, Aly. I don't want to switch school now."

"Matthew, we're not going to have that discussion again. I'm kind of tired of it. We're moving to Chicago and you're going to transfer to a public school."

"Mom! Tell her to let me stay here. I don't want to go to a school where I have to wear some fucking school uniform every goddamn day."

"Matt, I don't like you using that sort of language."

"Neither do I," Mary Alice stated, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Aly, maybe the boy is right about wanting to stay home in Seattle. You'll be way too busy handling that job and-,"

"I can handle everything in my life pretty fine myself. Thank you. Matt will get used to living in Chicago."

"Yeah, cause, I fucking like being the third wheel for you and your girlfriend. That's the true reason behind all this crap and if you'd be honest you'd admit it, _mother_."

"Don't talk to me like that! I can't stand it. This is not about Bella for fuck's sake."

**§§SL§§**

Mary Alice didn't manage to find any sleep until the first rays of sunlight were already shining into her bedroom. She hated fighting with Esme and she couldn't endure her son being mad at her. They were everything she had.

Then there was Bella and the thought of her made her toss and turn around in the bed she had bought for the two of them. Her fingertips touched the metal headboard, as she remembered how she had told her shy lover that she would love to handcuff her to it one day.

Oh, all the things she had wanted to do to the beautiful brunette she had met online a year ago. Now, of course, everything was ruined. Mary Alice didn't believe in fixing relationships. That was like trying to repair a broken vase. It will never be the same again.

Her heart though, her traitorous, stupid, way too sensitive heart cramped whenever she kept telling herself that things were irrevocably over.

She didn't want it to be over but how should she forgive her beloved when she was carrying the reminder of her betrayal right underneath her heart?

Grabbing her cell from her nightstand she flipped it open, reading once more through the countless emails, filled with the love she had thought the two of them shared.

_**to: AlyBrandon ( ) hotmail ( . ) com**_

_**from: IMSwan ( ) mercy-chicago ( . ) com**_

_Forgot to answer your question, because I got paged to an emergency. The answer is yes, Aly. YES! YES! YES! I love you too, so very much it makes me dizzy. _

_B._

_**to: IMSwan ( ) mercy-chicago ( . ) com**_

_**from: AlyBrandon ( ) hotmail ( . ) com**_

_I hate your crappy work hours but I love you. I love you telling me that you love me back. Can you say it again?_

_Plants kiss on the tattoo at your ankle. Will you let me buy you some pretty heels to go with it?_

_A._

_**to: AlyBrandon ( ) hotmail ( . ) com**_

_**from: : IMSwan ( ) mercy-chicago ( . ) com**_

_No way! _

_PS: why are you up, honey? It's the middle of the night._

_Kiss_

_B._

_**to: : IMSwan ( ) mercy-chicago ( . ) com**_

_**from: AlyBrandon ( ) hotmail ( . ) com**_

_Your fashion sense or should I say your lack of it, hurts me deeply._

_PS: I'm awake because I can't stop thinking about you. See? It's all your fault, Isabella._

_**To: AlyBrandon ( ) hotmail ( . ) com**_

_**from: IMSwan ( ) mercy-chicago ( . ) com**_

_Don't call me Isabella. You know I don't like it, also why._

_I'm going home soon and you should go to bed. It's time to sleep, my lovely._

_Kiss on your nose. Sweet Dreams._

_B._

Mary Alice didn't dream when she finally drifted into a restless sleep of which she was woken up by the loud beeping of her alarm clock.

She took a shower, washing her hair with some expensive coconut scented conditioner before taking the time to straighten her curly hair until it was all smooth and shiny.

Stepping into a knee length black skirt and a plain white blouse, she realized, that it was way easier to make someone appear beautiful and confident from the outside. But for now, Mary Alice was grateful that the woman starring back at her in the mirror didn't look unhappy. If she tried hard enough she could even force one side of her mouth upwards into a grimace like smile.

Her phone started ringing and she went down to the kitchen, picking up the call while simultaneously grabbing a bottle of orange juice from the fridge.

"Brandon."

"Aly? It's me, Jessica. God, I am so sorry to disturb you so early but Mr. Shannon wanted me to ask you if you'd were interested to take on one of his cases. The client told him that she would be more comfortable with a female lawyer representing her interests."

Mary Alice took a sip from the orange juice and leaned back against the wall behind her. Maybe more work would help her to distract herself from the woman she didn't want to think about.

"Aly?"

"Sure, I'll have a look at it."

"Great. Mr. Shannon will be pleased to hear that. Look, the thing is that everything is a bit urgent. The client, Miss Denali, is leaving for a photo shot to Brazil at the end of the week. So, you'd have to meet with her this afternoon. Maybe you should know that she's a model, but not one of those famous ones. Oh, wouldn't it be awesome if King & Son would represent one of them? Or maybe a handsome actor? Imagine Brad Pitt walking into our office claiming custody for all the kids he has with this horrible person. I swear her lips are fake no matter what…,"

"Jesscia! Just do me a favor and email me the file to my private address so that I can take a look at it. And just for the record, if anyone famous would actually decide to choose our law firm as a client, I expect you to act professionally."

When she found herself in front of the beautiful strawberry blonde woman a few hours later, Mary Alice tried her best to act professionally herself. She had trouble choosing the right words for cases like this. Would it be appropriate to tell the client she felt sorry? Yes, it probably would.

"Hello, Miss Denali. My name is Mary Alice Brandon. King & Son send me to represent you in court."

"Please call me Tanya. Miss Denali makes me feel like a school teacher. I'm surprised they sent someone so young. Are you even finished with Law School yet?"

"I assure you that I am good at what I'm doing. Plus, I am very obvious a woman and wasn't that what you requested to Mr. Shannon?"

She nodded her head, grabbing the cup of black coffee with a trembling hand before taking a hesitant sip.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to question your competency. I'm sure you are a good lawyer."

"It's okay. I know that I look younger. Where are you from originally? Russia?"

"Slovakia but I haven't been back to visit home for almost ten years. My parents live in a small village where they don't even get internet connection."

"My secretary has told me you work as a model. Must be a very exciting job, I assume. You get to travel a lot and see the world."

"I mostly see hotel rooms and stuff like that. Let me tell you a little secret, it's only half as fun as it appears to be. I can't even remember the last proper meal I had and most photographers are arrogant dicks that have a sick fun to let you stand in fake rain for hours while you have to pretend you are having the time of your life."

"But you get to wear a lot of pretty dresses."

"I don't get to keep them."

"Never? That's too bad. Look, I don't know how you'd prefer to handle things. Mr. Shannon has already documented your statement but I feel like it would help me to understand better what happened to you if you told me yourself."

The strawberry-haired woman dropped her cup, spilling the rest of its content over the table.

"God, I'm so sorry about that."

"Don't have to be." Mary Alice assured her, grabbing a paper towel to clean up the mess.

"If you want another coffee, I can order my secretary to get you one."

"I think more caffeine won't be helping me to calm my nerves."

"Probably,"

"I feel like no one believes me." She started finally and the words came out like a hoarse whisper. It took Tanya several moments before she continued a bit louder.

"No one seems to believe me."

"I'm sorry about that. Can you describe what happened on said night with Mr. Volturi?"

"He was a client for my model agency, a very good client to be a bit more precisely."

"What did he hire you for?"

"Aro owns a pretty successful leather manufactory. I was thrilled to get booked for the job. He usually works with Chelsea and Heidi but they were on another shooting in Paris when the agency got the call."

"So, you went to the hotel to meet him there in the lobby."

"Yes, we had…wine together. He was very charming and sweet to me."

"Did someone see you accompany him to his room?"

"A few people…the Liftboy….I think his name tag said Alec or something close to that."

"Did he force you to come with him? Threaten you or anything."

"He didn't have to. God, I was so terribly naïve, falling for the oldest trick in history."

"Why did you go with him? Is it normal for you to accompany male clients to their hotel rooms?"

"He wanted to show me some leather jackets that I should be wearing during the photo shooting. Aro told me he needed to see how they looked like with my hair. Why are you asking me that anyway? Are you trying to tell me what happened was my own fault? That I deserve what he did to me?"

"No, of course not, Tanya, I know it is not your fault. Something like that is never the fault of the woman even if society likes to blame some of the victims. The thing is I need to prepare you to be asked that sort of question in court."

"Maybe I shouldn't go to court. I don't feel the need to humiliate myself in public."

"You pressed charges against Mr. Volturi the prosecution has to act once these things have been set in motion and most important; don't you want him to get punished?"

"Ye..yes, but I'm scared, so terribly scared. People are going to believe him not me. I couldn't endure that. It would be like being raped all over again for a second time."

Mary Alice assured her that she wouldn't let that happen and for the rest of their meeting she was very quiet, simply letting her opposite talk while she continued scrawling down notes on the small notebook in front of her.

Only one time did Tanya make a comment that managed to startle her so much, that she lost the calm expression on her face.

"He used a condom. Told me he didn't want to risk getting a slut like me pregnant."

"That bastard," Mary Alice snarled, jumping up from her chair so abruptly that it fell down behind her.

That was it, the answer to Bella's unexpected pregnancy. She hadn't cheated on her. Someone had forced himself on the delicate brunette. Mary Alice's head started spinning. She didn't want to believe that some sort of monster had brutally abused the woman she loved so very much. Why hadn't she told her right after it happened? Why hadn't she called the police? Why hadn't she—

"Are you alright? You seem so shocked now. Did I give you too much details?"

"No, no, I'm perfectly fine. Just a bit agitated probably. I hate rapists. We will end this man in court, I promise you. He won't get any chance to hurt another woman."

"I hope so. Can I give you a call when I'm back from Rio to discuss the details for the trial?" Tanya asked her, picking up her handbag and her jacket.

"Sure, just call my secretary. She will be happy to arrange another meeting. Have a safe trip to Brazil." she told her, forcing herself to speak with a calm voice.

As soon as the tall model woman was out of her office Mary Alice grabbed her phone, dialing Bella's number with trembling fingers, waiting impatiently for her to pick up.

When she heard the cheerful voice of her ex-lover starting to talk on the voicemail, a deep sigh escaped her throat.

"Bella, it's me. Can you call me back? Please, baby."

She dropped the receiver down and put her face in both of her hands, taking several deep breaths to fight back the beginning of what felt like a panic attack to her.

Horrible, she thought, she was a horrible, horrible girlfriend for not listening to Bella when she wanted to talk to her.

She pulled out her cell, typing a text into it so quickly that she had to re-write the message a second time before sending it.

**B. we need to talk. I'm so very sorry about everything. I was rude to you. Please forgive me. A.**

Waiting impatiently for Bella to reply, she started biting off the pearly nail polish from her thumb.

Her nerves were tensed, she was close to start crying but as always her eyes stayed dry, unable to give into the pain that rushed through her.

Hurt, Bella had been hurt and she had just simply assumed that she had betrayed her trust by cheating on her with a random guy. How could she have been so very stupid? Oh yes, she knew why, because she was jealous and full of self-doubts behind the mask of her cheerfulness. She hated the fact that Bella still hadn't told her father about her relationship with a woman and she disliked the fact that the lovely brunette had only dated men before the two of them had met each other.

The disgusting vision of Bella lying helplessly underneath some faceless man while he groaned above her made Mary Alice's stomach churn. She pressed her hand against her abdomen and barely managed to lower her head above the wastebasket to throw up some bitter acid and the rest of the Burger she had for lunch.

"Aly, do you—," Jessica started breathlessly when she rushed into the office, stopping when she captured her boss wiping some vomit from her chin.

"Crap, are you sick? It's not the stomach flu, is it? Vera had that two weeks ago. It made her loose four pounds. Not that you have to lose any weight with your figure but still."

"I'm not sick. That was nothing. Can you get me some mints or something?"

"You aren't pregnant, are you?"

She rolled her eyes at that comment and rushed out of her office. Her heart was racing as she made it down the elevator, already dialing the familiar number once again. Unfortunately Bella didn't pick up. Mary Alice couldn't even blame her for that. She had rejected her, without even considering to let her explain the circumstances of her pregnancy.

Mary Alice was starting to panic when Bella didn't return any of her calls and because she wasn't good at handling that, she found herself in front of the small hotel she knew Bella was staying in. The two of them had spent some nights there together when Bella had first come to Seattle to stay with her.

"I'm looking for a Miss Swan. Is she staying here with you?"

"Ma'am we are not supposed to share information about our guests."

"Of course," she purred overly sweet. "I understand that you have your orders. Look, Miss Swan is one of my clients, " she continued, placing a card of King & Son on his desk. " I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate it if she missed an important meeting because of you. I mean, she could sue you and the consequence would probably be you losing your job, but I totally accept that you have your rules and—,"

"Maybe I could take a quick look…she was here but she checked out earlier this day."

"Did she leave a message?"

"Let me see…no, there isn't one."

"Well, thank you for your effort. Have a good day."

Back in her car, she started the engine, dialing Bella's cell for another time. She felt stupid and terribly guilty for not listening to her girlfriend. Everyone deserved to be heard, didn't they?

Mary Alice sighed deeply and called her office, waiting until Jessica's bubbly voice answered the phone.

"King & Son, Miss Brandon's office."

"Jessica, it's me, Aly."

"Oh hi, honey. Are you feeling better now?"

"I'm fine, thank you and please don't spread rumors about me being pregnant for it's not true."

"I would never dare to gossip about your private life. It is none of my business. Are you calling to re-check your meetings for tomorrow?"

"Not exactly, Jessica."

"Hmm?"

"Look, I need you to cancel them; all of them. I need to take a day off to fly to Chicago."


	5. Chapter 5

[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to SM

[A/N] This new chapter here is dedicated to my readers **BeautyThroughBrokenGlass** & **xMaskedDestroyerx**. I hope, you'll enjoy

****Chapter 5****

_Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad_

_(Aldous Huxley)_

The taxi driver stopped the car in front of the apartment complex where Bella lived and it took Mary Alice way too long to step outside. She hadn't slept on the plane and the physical weariness together with her emotional exhaustion knocked the breath out of her. She kneeled down on the ground, cradling her face in her hands while a dry sob died in her throat.

What if Bella didn't want to talk to her anymore? The thought was unbearable to her, cramping around Mary Alice's soul like cold ice. Her cell started ringing in her handbag when she pulled it out, hoping that her girlfriend had eventually returned one of her calls. She wasn't that lucky.

"Jessica, I really hope this is important." she snarled into the receiver.

"Hi Aly, of course it is important, like I would ever call you on your private cell if it wasn't a work related emergency."

"It's okay. Did you have a problem cancelling the meetings for tomorrow?"

"No, that's fine, I'll email you the new appointments I arranged for next week, if that's okay for you?"

"Yeah, that would be good. Thank you, Jessica. Why did you call me?"

"Well, I kind of told Vera about your spontaneous trip to Chicago and now Mr. King suggested that you could stay there till Monday to meet with Royce."

"What is he doing in Chicago?"

"_The Queen_ wanted them to fly there to buy some Art. I don't understand why people would spend so much unnecessary money on stupid drawings. It's a terrible waste of money in my eyes but who is asking me? The Boss has more money than a single person could spend in not one, but two lives."

"Yeah, probably, just email me everything and I'll check it later. Have a good night, Jess."

"You too, Aly,"

Mary Alice disconnected the call and stuffed the cell back into her handbag. She wasn't too keen on meeting Royce and his awful wife but now that she was going to work directly under him, it would be inevitable to try getting along.

She cleared her throat, wiped her palms on her leather jacket and pressed the doorbell, finding herself in front of a horribly pale looking Bella who had dark circles underneath her reddened eyes a few moments later.

"Hey," Mary Alice whispered nervously. "Surprise,"

"You are here."

"Yes, baby, and I'm so very sorry. I'm so incredibly sorry. God, I can't even tell you how sorry I am about everything."

Bella pulled her inside the small apartment, wrapping her arms tightly around her girlfriend's narrow waist. She sniffed and then warm tears trickled down the hollow of Mary Alice's throat.

"You are here. You are really here."

"I'm here. Please stop crying, honey. Everything is going to be okay. I'm here now."

The two of them landed on the couch, where Mary Alice started showering her beloved's face with gentle kisses, tasting the bitter tears on the tip of her tongue.

"I'm so sorry." Bella whispered hoarsely, when she eventually managed to calm herself down a bit.

"No, honey, don't say that. You don't have to be sorry. It's not your fault. Do you hear me? It's not your fault."

"I wanted…I wanted to tell you, I really wanted to but they said I can't let anyone know."

They? There had been more than one of those bastards? Mary Alice swallowed back some acid in her mouth, trying hard to fight the upcoming nausea. She had to be strong now, strong for Bella. God, this was so very disgusting.

Taking both of Bella's hand in her own, she started rubbing circles all over the smooth skin.

"Why didn't you tell me right after it happened? You know I'd know what to do. I could have helped you, baby. Please, let me help you now. Let me make this okay again."

"You said you hated me. You think I cheated on you. How can you have so very little trust in me, in my love for you?"

"I'm sorry, so very sorry." Mary Alice murmured, pulling Bella closer against her own chest. She buried her nose into the silky chestnut colored hair and inhaled deeply, to absorb as much as possible of Bella's own scent.

"I hate the fact that I hurt you. I was jealous, so very jealous."

"Jealous?"

Mary Alice nodded her head before she pulled out a tissue to hold it directly underneath Bella's running nose.

"Blow, sweetie"

"You sound like my Mom. No one has ever cleaned my nose since her and that has been like twenty years now."

"Did you tell Charlie about things?"

"I don't want him to know. He wouldn't like it."

"It would make me wonder if he'd be okay with that sort of thing. Your father may be an old-fashioned homophobic but he would never want you to get hurt like that."

"Hurt?"

"Baby, I know what happened to you. I wished I could have protected you."

"Protect me?"

"From the man…the men who…who," the word burned in her mouth when she finally managed to croak it out. "Protect you from the men who raped you."

"You think I was raped?"

"You were not? Oh God, you can't believe how glad I am about that."

"Let me explain about the pregnancy. I just wanted to—,"

"You don't have to explain anything to me. All I care about is that no one hurt you. I love you. I love you more than my own life."

A wave of loud sobs escaped Mary Alice's mouth, her eyes although dry like usually burned with the tears she was unable to shed. Relief washed over her, as if somebody had lifted a heavy weight from her heart. She didn't even care anymore if Bella had cheated on her. She was just so utterly glad that nobody had hurt the woman she loved.

Their mouth found each other in a silent kiss and Mary Alice whimpered when she felt the tip of Bella's tongue circling over the edge of her lower lip, begging for entrance into the warmth of Mary Alice's mouth.

"Tell me, you love me." The brunette whispered, suckling the skin on Mary Alice's neck between her teeth. "I need to hear it again."

"I love you. I love you so much, so very much."

Bella guided her lover's hand to the cotton fabric of her shirt and Mary Alice groaned when her thumb touched against the hardening nipples.

She rolled them gently between her fingers before moving her right hand underneath Bella's shirt to pull it over her girlfriend's head. Each piece of their clothing joined the rest on a messy pile next to the couch and Mary Alice continued exploring the velvety skin of her beloved with her hands, groaning into Bella mouth when her fingertips circled over the moist outer lips of her sex. She wanted to taste her lover's lust on the tip of her tongue and so she kneeled down in front of the couch and parted Bella's slim thighs.

They started trembling against her shoulders when she started to move her tongue all over Bella's most sensitive places, circling the pearl of her lover's clit before flicking the tip of her tongue against the wet entrance. She pushed her tongue into the amazing heat, lapping up more of the slick wetness when her fingertips continued caressing the responsive area around her lover's clit. Bella whimpered, fisting her hands into Mary Alice's hair when she felt the tiny pearl pulsing vividly against her lips. Gently she suckled it between them, pushing her middle finger inside her lover as deep as she could. When she felt the slick walls around it starting to tighten and loosen rhythmically, she almost tumbled over the edge herself. Her thong, the only piece of clothes she was still wearing was soaked and before she could stop herself, her left hand moved under the thin fabric, rubbing her throbbing clit with her fingers until she felt Bella's hand around her wrist.

Her heartbeat stopped for a moment when her shy lover lifted the glistening fingertips to her full mouth, swirling her tongue around them to taste the essence for the first time.

"It's salty…but sweet at the same time. How's that like for you to taste that from…well, directly from the source."

Mary Alice moaned, leaning up to kiss her lover's lips, parting them with her tongue to touch it against the inside of Bella's cheek.

"I love pleasuring you with my mouth. It turns me on." she whispered, guiding Bella's hand between her legs so that she could feel how wet she was.

"Bedroom," Mary Alice mumbled, wrapping her arms around the beautiful woman in front of her. She loved her so much it was physically painful and the thought that she had almost ruined this love with her lack of trust hurt her deeply. She would never do that again. The two of them belonged together and she would try anything in her power to keep it that way. Wrapping her legs around Bella's hips she started rubbing her crouch against the slick sex of her lover. Up and down and back and forth until her release made her entire body shudder and she collapsed on top of Bella, burying her face against the softness of her full breasts.

And with their arms still around each other to keep the other one close, they drifted into peaceful sleep.

**§§SL§§**

Bella was still fast asleep when Mary Alice woke up on the next morning. She planted a soft kiss on her beloved's bare shoulder before she stood up from the bed. A smile hushed over her face when she noticed that Bella had both of her hands cradled protectively over her lower abdomen.

Already protecting her baby, Mary Alice thought, carefully wrapping the blankets around Bella again.

She tiptoed to the kitchen, deciding that tea would most likely be healthier for a pregnant woman than coffee she filled the kettle and placed it on the stove before she searched for some tea bags in the cupboards. A grey envelope fell down to the ground and Mary Alice kneeled down to pick it up again.

Her eyes widened when she read the address that was written across it with black ink.

_Mrs. Victoria Lawrence, Attorney at Hunter & Partner_

Why in heaven's name would Bella need to contact a lawyer? More so, if she was in need for one, she could have asked her for help. It would have been way easier and a hell lot cheaper. Maybe that was the key. Bella was so terribly uncomfortable about everything that had to do with money.

The water started to boil and she poured it into two cups, wondering if she could dare it to use Bella's rusty toaster without risking on getting an electric stroke. Taking two steps backwards in the tiny kitchen, her hand accidentally touched against the phone, making the machine start to replay the first message on it.

"Bella, this is Edward Masen speaking. Why aren't you calling me back? Dr. Connor has called my wife to tell her you missed your appointment again yesterday morning. I can't even tell you how disappointed we are in you. It is part of your contract to attend every medical examination that's required. Re-read the paragraph in the contract if you need a reminder of the consequences should you not find it necessary to—"

His voice stopped midsentence and a few seconds later, a woman was on the line, clearing her voice nervously.

"Bella, it's Angela. Look, E. didn't mean what he said. He's just agitated and can't handle that well. We are so grateful for what you are doing for us. It means so very much to me. Should I call Dr. Connor to make up another appointment?"

Mary Alice turned around when she heard Bella inhaling sharply between her teeth.

"What are you doing there with my phone?"

"I didn't turn on the machine on purpose. Who is this awful man? He sounds like an asshole to me. I don't like that threatening tone he used."

Bella sighed deeply, sitting down on the white painted kitchen chair, petting the one next to her with her flat hand.

"Promise me that that you'll stay, no matter what I tell you?"

"Yes. Yes, I'll stay. Please, don't worry about it."

She took a deep breathe, wrapping an arm around her lover's shoulder.

"They are going to be its parents."

"The parents of whom?"

"The baby, of course,"

"I don't think I understand."

"I know. Look, this is complicated. You know how I work with cancer patients in the hospital?"

"Yes,"

"Well, somewhat last year I noticed a man sitting the waiting hall every week while his wife was getting Chemotherapy. He was always scrawling something on his sketch block and one time during my coffee break I asked him what he was drawing all the time. That's how I got to know first Edward and then his wife, Angie."

Lifting the cup with the tea to her lips, Bella took a hesitant sip on the hot liquid before placing it on the table in front of them again.

"Hungry?"

"If I eat something in the morning it comes up within minutes. I'm trying to avoid eating breakfast."

"Are you going to tell me what the Masens have to do with your baby?"

"It is not my baby. Well, technically it is but I try not to think too much about that. I want to focus on the reasons why I decided on doing this. How many people have the chance to make a true difference in someone else's life?"

"You are going to give your baby to them? Why?"

"Well actually the whole thing was Angie's idea. She was so sad because she won't be able to carry a child herself after the chemotherapy."

"There is this thing in this country that's called adoption."

"They tried that but the agencies refused them as soon as they found out she had cancer. Look, the Masens are good people. You should see their house; they have this huge garden and a dog and everything. The kid will be happy to be living with them."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Bella, it's not like you are going to buy her a puppy as a birthday present. This baby," she whispered, placing her fingertips underneath Bella's navel, to circle it around as if she was pretending to draw a little heart.

"This baby is a part of you."

"I won't be seeing it like that, more like I'm babysitting it for them for the next seven months."

"Bella, honey, you don't know what you are getting yourself into. All of this seems easy to you right now but I know it's going to change once you start to feel how it's moving inside of you."

"I can handle that bit of kicking pretty fine."

"That's not what I meant. You are going to love the baby. Maybe you'll try not to, maybe you'll try to ignore it but in the end it will overwhelm you, swallow you whole. There is no such thing that comes close to a mother's love for her child and I know this because, because that's exactly how it has been like for me when I had Matt."

"This is different. I know what I'm doing and I know that I can get through with this. It's too late to change my mind now anyway because of the contract I've signed."

"What kind of contract?"

"This one," she explained, pulling the grey envelope out of the cupboard again.

"Their lawyer, Mrs. Lawrence set it up."

"Let me take a look at it. You should probably have done that beforehand but anyway."

"I was afraid you would tell me not to do it and I really wanted to help them so very much."

Mary Alice sighed, leaning forward to kiss Bella's mouth before she turned her attention to the small folder inside the envelope.

"Firstly I would have told you that I will always support you when something is important to you but I feel like these people have talked you into this."

"They didn't."

"But they set up this farce of a contract to make sure you wouldn't change your mind. I have to take a closer look but I don't think a thing like that is legal."

The two of them spent most of the weekend in bed cuddling and kissing each other while Mary Alice started doing some research on Surrogate mothers on the internet. The Masens had offered Bella a huge amount of money for having this baby for them and in return they had practically directed every aspect of her pregnancy, telling her which gynecologist to see, what vitamins to take, even how she was supposed to give birth and that she wasn't allowed to breastfeed the little one afterwards.

"This is a piece of crap and you shouldn't have signed it in the first place."

"But their lawyer said." Bella started hesitantly, twisting her fingers into Mary Alice's curls.

"Their lawyer works for them, honey. Do you see this paragraph here about your medical treatment? That's nonsense and the part about a monetary penalty should you miss any of your appointments, just fucking ridiculous."

"Are you trying to tell me that I was stupid for signing it?"

"You are too good-hearted but that's part of why I love you. I'll call this Mrs. Lawrence when I'm back in Seattle and tell her to change these parts of the contract."

"I don't want you to leave. I just got you back, Aly."

"It's not for long. My boss has transferred me to our new office here in Chicago, so we can see each other way more often from now on."

**§§SL§§**

There was only one aspect about working in Chicago that Mary Alice disliked and it was the fact that her future boss Royce King Junior was a total jerk. He was a choleric asshole who loved yelling at his poor secretary whenever the woman didn't jump quickly enough to get his coffee or a file he needed to read though.

Mary Alice took a deep breath and forced her mouth into the hint of a polite smile before opening the door to Royce office. The entire house smelled of fresh paint and the plastic foil on the expensive carpet, had tangled around the heel of her sling pumps. She hissed through her teeth and kneeled down to free it again. At least she hadn't got any paint on the precious leather. That would have ruined them irrevocably.

"Miss Brandon?"

"Good Morning, Mr. King. How are you?"

"Have been better, but that's just the fault of my stupid wife. She obviously thinks it's a good idea to waste our money on some worthless drawings."

The statuesque blonde that was standing behind his desk inhaled sharply between her teeth. Her hands were shaking as she grabbed the framed drawing from the desk to lean it against the wall.

"Rosalie! The paint isn't dried yet. God, are you really that dumb? Even you should have two brain cells behind that pretty face of yours."

"I'm sorry Royce."

"Yeah, you're always telling me that and it's starting to annoy me."

"I thought you would like the pictures."

"You thought – thinking is not something you are too good at, Mrs. King."

"Should I come back later?" Mary Alice asked Royce, feeling awkward to witness the conversation between her boss and his beautiful wife. Yes, Rosalie King might be living the life of a queen but her husband sure wasn't treating her like a princess.

"No, Miss Brandon, you may stay. I enjoy the company of a woman who is capable of an intelligent conversation. That's nothing I tend to get in my own house."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay. I didn't marry my wife to discuss juristic subjects with her. Has Shannon included you on the Crowley case? I hate working through medical records. They bore me."

"I can handle that. Do you know when we are ready to open the office?"

"In about two weeks. Has my father told you about the house he has decided to rent for you to stay at? It's a bit big for one single person but you'll get used to it. It's not like you are going to spend too much time there. I'm planning on keeping you pretty busy."

"I'm looking forward to it and I won't be living alone, my son is going to move here with me."

"Oh I didn't know you had a child. Do you need help finding a nanny for him?" Rosalie asked her, wiping a tiny droplet of smeared eyeliner from the corner of her eye.

"Matt is fourteen."

"A teenager? But you're still so young."

"At least she is a mother, unlike you. My father is getting impatient about this grandchild thing."

"Royce, maybe you should consider seeing a doctor too."

"Are you trying to tell me I'm not a real man?" His voice was hard like ice and a low whimper escaped his wife's mouth when he grabbed her roughly around her arm.

"I'm sorry, Royce. I didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah sure, we'll talk about it later in private. Your bodyguard will bring you back to the hotel now and I expect you to stay there."

"Yes, Royce."

"Great." He mumbled, cupping her jaw between his thumb and his forefinger before pressing his lips to hers. The tiny rest of shiny pinkish lip gloss that ended up on his thin moustache made him look like a moron.

"Mrs. King, are you ready to go?"

The deep voice of the giant like man in the door frame made them turn around. He looked intimidating, and Mary Alice guessed that was the purpose. The muscles around his broad shoulders pressed a bit too tightly against the fabric of his black suit.

"Mrs. King?"

"She's good to go. Drive her back to the hotel and then you are free for the rest of the day."

"Yes, Sir, but didn't she want to go to that artist's gallery again to buy some more of the drawings?"

"Yes, I wanted but Royce doesn't think it's a good idea."

"_Royce_ thinks it's a bad idea to waste money on crap like that. You can order some Monet replica on the internet if you feel like my office needs some art decoration. These drawings are depressing to look at."

"I think they are beautiful. The artist poured his soul into them. Isn't that touching you at all?"

"Rosie, you are too naïve but I guess that's just how you are. Just ask Miss Brandon here what she thinks of them. Show her the drawing you bought yesterday."

He lifted the silver framed drawing up so that Mary Alice could see it for the first time. It showed a small girl with huge, fearful looking blue eyes in front of a mirror. The little paper crown on top of her completely bald head covered most of the ugly scar that was running right across her scalp. Her thin arm was wrapped tightly around the teddy bear she was holding. She looked sickish but her lips were turned into a shy smile. The reflection in the mirror showed a different girl, or no, it was the same one, just with long, curly red hair and a long silk dress.

"_Princess in the mirror,"_ was written in the right corner of the drawing.

"So sad…this is the saddest picture I have ever seen." Mary Alice stated, touching the crown of the little girl with her fingertip. "I want to climb into it just to comfort her."

"It's just a picture, Miss Brandon, don't tell me you get all agitated about ridiculous stuff like that. You're a lawyer and not some overly sensitive housewife like my Rosie."

"I still think the drawing is beautiful, beautiful but sad." She whispered, shrugging back when she captured the signature underneath the title that read _E. A. Masen. _Was it possible that this artist was the same Edward Masen who had hired Bella to work as a surrogate mother? She decided to make a visit to his gallery to take a closer look at this guy.


	6. Chapter 6

[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] This one is dedicated to **Kaiden13**. Thanks for the hug. I really needed it.

****Chapter 6****

_Who, being loved is poor?_

_(Oscar Wilde)_

The closest Mary Alice had ever come to Art was pining some of Matt's childhood scrawlings onto the fridge in her foster parents house. She remembered kissing his forehead and telling him how much she loved them even when she had no clue if the animals in them were supposed to be dogs or giraffes. Now, she was about to meet Chicago's most promising Artist and her heart was racing in her chest. Not because she was so excited on taking a look at his drawings but because she had a certain feeling this wasn't going to be a very enjoyable meeting. She stepped out of the car, taking Bella's hand in hers to squeeze it tightly for a moment.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? Technically I wasn't even supposed to tell you about the contract."

"I'm your girlfriend. That means more than this joke of a contract. You can tell me everything. I want you to tell me everything."

Her fingertips circled over the bracelet around her lover's wrist before lifting Bella's pale hand up to her ruby tinted lips to plant a kiss on it.

"Do you really like my present?"

"I don't like you spending so much money on me. It's unnecessary. Just like the plane ticket to Seattle you gave me. I can safe up for one myself."

"I know you can but as I ruined your last visit to Seattle with my stupid jealousy, I wanted to make up for it. Stop thinking too much about me spending money on you. I'd give you more if you'd let me. I'd give you everything."

Bella sighed and after checking the area around them to see if they were alone on the parking lot, she wrapped her hand around Mary Alice's waist, pulling the dainty woman close against her own body. Their lips connected in a sweet, almost shy kiss before she pulled back a split second later.

"You are still scared someone could see us together. When will that stop?"

"I'm scared about what people might think. It's stupid, I know."

Mary Alice cupped her lover's face in her right hand, caressing the delicate cheekbone with her thumb before pressing her lips once more against Bella's. This time she held their mouth connected longer than the first time and very gently she circled her tongue over the edge of Bella's upper lip. How much she loved this woman. How much she wanted to make her happy.

"What people think means shit to me and most people don't think too much at all." She murmured, when she eventually broke the kiss.

"Try to relax. No one is going to judge you."

"Charlie wouldn't be too fond about me finding out I'm a lesbian."

"Guess, he'd take the fact that he's going to be a grandfather, or not a grandfather way better."

Bella stiffened and Mary Alice hugged her tightly from behind, grazing the shell of Bella's ear with her front teeth.

"I'll protect you from him, should he be mad at you. You know, I'd always protect you."

"Edward is the one who should be scared of Charlie about the baby thing. Well, sort of."

The two of them entered the small Atelier and Mary Alice wrinkled her nose when the burning scent of disinfectants and fresh paint reached her nostrils.

Her eyes captured the large painting on the left wall. It was half-finished, showing a tall dark-skinned woman who was holding a bow and arrow, between her too thin arms. Instead of her right breast there was just an angry reddish scar running right across her entire shoulder blade. How could she let anyone portray her like that?

"Shocking, isn't it?"

Mary Alice turned around on her heels, hoping that she wouldn't ruin her shoes with all the dirt that was lying around here. The place was messy, terribly messy but Artists probably didn't care too much about keeping their work place clean. Why did it smell so much like disinfections here? It smelled almost like, like in a hospital. So gross—

"Bella, what are you doing here?"

"It's a free country and she can go where it pleases her." Mary Alice snarled, forcing herself to reach out her hand to the messy-haired man in front of them.

"I didn't mean it like that. I'm just surprised to see her here."

"Edward, I'm sorry about missing the appointment. I wasn't feeling well."

"Don't apologize to him. There is no reason to do so."

"Who is she?"

Mary Alice cleared her throat, forcing her lips into a smile before closing her fingers around his hand. It was cold and lifeless like ice.

"I'm Mary Alice Brandon, Miss Swan's lawyer. It's so nice to meet you, Mr. Cullen."

"Lawyer? Why would she need any juristic support for?"

"Let me think for a moment; maybe because you talked her into signing this ridiculous nonsense about the surrogate thing."

His foggy green eyes narrowed but when he spoke up he tried very hard to keep his voice calm.

"If there is anything concerning the contract you don't like, Bella, you could have told me or Angie."

"She is too nice to complain to anyone but I assure you I'm not."

He fisted his hands through his hair and she noticed some yellow paint in the coppery streaks.

"Are you even finished with law school? You look too young to be a lawyer."

"And you don't look rich enough to buy a child. This place is a mess and so are you."

"This is just where I work. My house in the city is something else. Bella can tell you. She's been there when we signed the contract. The contract that holds a very clear clause about keeping everything that concerns it to herself."

He pointed over to an old couch that was standing in a corner of the atelier, petting his hand over the brown leather to encourage Bella to sit down. Mary Alice crossed her arms in front of her chest, forcing herself from wrapping her arms around her lover. This man was intimidating Bella somehow and that wasn't something Mary Alice liked one tiny bit.

"That contract is a farce. Surrogate mothers aren't even legal in Illinois. Bet your sorry excuse of a lawyer didn't inform you about that. Did she?"

Something dropped down to the ground behind them and when Mary Alice turned her head she noticed a woman with short cropped jet-black hair, who was kneeling down on the ground, trying to pick up some glass fragments.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't have to be, love, just come here and sit down. I'll clean that up later."

She nodded her head and reached out her hand to Mary Alice.

"Hello. I'm Angela Masen. My husband isn't that good with unexpected visitors. He doesn't like it when someone looks at his works before they are finished."

"I'm not here for the drawings."

"She's Bella's lawyer." Edward explained, circling his fingers over his wife's bare forearm.

"Bella, why would you need a lawyer? Is something wrong?"

Bella smiled, taking Angela's hand to place it right underneath her belly button.

"Nothing is wrong. I'm keeping my promise. Aly is just worried about me being okay."

"She is your lawyer? That's weird. When you mentioned Aly before it always sounded like she was your girlfriend."

Bella's face reddened and she tried to hide it by pretending to search for something in her handbag.

"Edward, can you open the windows please, there is no air in this place."

He kissed the short cropped hair of his wife with parted lips before walking over to the window. Then he started smearing a bit of black and grey paint around the painting next to the wall until it eventually turned into a lake where the woman in the picture reflected herself.

"So, you're the one Bella is having this baby for." Mary Alice stated, kneeling down next to Bella on the ground. "Sounds like a pretty gracious thing to do."

"I know. It's so much to ask for. Bella is an angel for doing this for us. I always wanted to be a mother, always but then the doctors found this tumor and…well, that kind of changed my plans irrevocably."

"I don't have trouble with Bella helping you. What I don't like about it is the financial aspect; that and the fact that your husband threatened her about the missed appointment."

"I'm sorry, he was so rude. Edward, come here and apologize to Bella."

"For what would I have to apologize? She's the one who's breaking the rules."

"Edward, please, I thought we talked about that and I made my point clear. We have to be thankful for what she's doing for us. Now apologize, I'm not in the mood for fighting with you again."

"Sure, my love, as you wish. Bella, I'm sorry for leaving that unfriendly message on your phone. I was agitated. My nerves are not the best at the moment."

"But you think them good enough to take care of a screaming infant. Kids can be very, very annoying now and then." Mary Alice muttered, running a single finger over the long curls of Bella's hair.

"I shall be fine with that. Now about the contract and parts of it that you find…difficult to accept—,"

"I'm going to contact your lawyer to discuss these things with her. Why did you include this part about having control about her medical treatment? Bella is a nurse, she should be able to handle that sort of thing pretty fine on her own."

"She already missed one appointment. She's not taking this serious enough."

"Edward, that's enough. Maybe you should go for a little walk, so that us girls can talk in private."

He sighed deeply and when he kissed Angela's mouth, she caressed the skin around his hairline with her fingertips for a moment.

As soon as he was out of sight, she swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry he's being difficult. This is not how we expected our family planning to go. By the way, don't we look ridiculous together?"

"No, Angela, that's not true."

"Oh sure it is. Edward is such a good looking man and I look like a corpse even with my makeup on. My hair still isn't growing back properly. Not that it matters but still."

"Angie, you look just fine. No is expecting you to look like a model when you just finished chemotherapy a few months ago. When the baby is born your hair will be long and silky again. Isn't that something to look forward to? I know how much this baby means to the two of you. You'll be such a wonderful mother."

"I can't even tell you how grateful I am for what you are doing. I want this baby more than words could ever say. It's like a glimpse of hope for me."

"Bella is not responsible for making your life any better. I'm sorry about you being sick but I feel like you pressured her into this whole surrogate thing."

"She didn't pressure me. I just like to help."

"The baby is yours. It's a part of you no matter how much you try to ignore this fact."

"It will be Angela's. She's so good with kids."

Mary Alice placed her hand on Bella's thigh, rubbing her fingers over the fabric of dark denim before speaking up again.

"You are good with kids too. Are you sure, you can give your own one away?"

"It is not mine."

**§§SL§§§**

Mary Alice had tried really hard on getting along with the wife of her best friend since the two of them got married about a year ago. The truth was that they hated each other with an almost sickish passion. When the dainty woman knocked on the door to Jasper's house after returning back to Seattle in the late afternoon, she send a silent prayer to the Heavens above that Maria wouldn't be home now.

Unfortunately, God seemed to be busy dealing with other, more urgent emergencies, so Mary Alice found herself facing a pair of angry looking dark brown eyes a split second later.

Forcing her lips into the slightest hint of a fake smile, the brunette lawyer cleared her throat and sighed deeply.

"Hi. Is Jasper here?"

"Lucia!" the tall woman's voice called back inside the house and after a few moments a small curly-haired girl appeared next to her, wrapping her arm around her mother's side.

"Hello Lucy, is your stepfather home?"

"_Decirle a mear ahora!"_

Lucy's blue eyes widened and she started nibbling her lower lip nervously before whispering shyly to Mary Alice.

"Maybe you should come back another time. I'm sorry. It's not really good now."

"Lucy, is he here or not?"

"Aly! What a nice surprise." Jasper's voice was a bit too husky, like it always was when he had been drinking more than it was good for him in a short amount of time. His eyes were red but the damp curls of his hair smelled as if he had washed them right before she came. She hated it when the stench of cheap cigarettes and alcohol seemed to be streaming out of each of his pores. He was a good man, a good person and Mary Alice didn't want him to give into the demons in his head. Alcohol was poison for him and she cursed herself silently for encouraging one of his latest outbursts.

"Hi there, how are you feeling?"

"Like crap. My head is about to explode."

He wrapped his arm around Mary Alice's shoulder and guided her into the house where she sat down on the edge of the couch.

"Lucy, sweetie, be a darling and bring me a beer. Aly, do you want something to drink too?"

"Do you think more alcohol is a healthy choice right now?"

He chuckled bitterly, running his hand through the damp honey-blonde hair before telling Mary Alice to mind her own business.

"Lucy, where's my beer?"

"We don't have any. I emptied all of it into the kitchen sink."

"You did what? Are you fucking stupid!"

The little one cringed and when he realized that she looked as if she was about to start crying, he sighed deeply and kneeled down in front of her.

"Please don't cry, pretty baby-girl. I didn't mean it like that."

"Are you angry at me?"

"No, no I'm not. Just forget it. I'm sorry for yelling at you."

Jasper pulled his stepdaughter on his lap and planted a kiss on the curly hair.

"Isn't it nice that Aly came to visit us?"

"Hmm,"

His wife didn't seem to share his opinion because she started hissing something between her teeth before rushing off to the kitchen, closing the door behind her with a loud bang.

"She hates me."

"No, she's just angry at me, because I drank too much with you."

"You always drink too much." Mary Alice stated, wondering if he would get angry now with her. His adoptive parents and Carlisle already had given him several heart-to-heart talks about his drinking habits.

"You know why I'm drinking. We don't have to discuss the old stories again."

"Doesn't mean, you couldn't stop it if you just tried hard enough."

He shook his head, running his fingers once more through the long curls of his stepdaughter's hair.

"Bet your mother made you throw away my beer. Right? It's not nice to throw away stuff that doesn't belong to you."

"You and mom threw away my snake."

"We brought it back to the pet shop. If you want to have another pet…one that's a bit less gross, let me know and we'll talk about it."

She nodded her head and climbed from his lap.

"I look for something on the Internet. Maybe a spider…or a rat, I like rats. Oh Jasper, can I have a rat?"

"Sweetie, why can't you just like cats and dogs like other kids?"

"Cats and dogs are boring. Aly, do you like rats?"

"I don't really know. Does your mother like them?"

"She's scared of anything that crawls."

"Then I'll give you one for your birthday."

"Really? That's so cool. Oh, I can't wait."

She rushed up the stairs to her room and as soon as she was out of sight Mary Alice cleared her throat nervously.

"Are you sure your wife is okay with me being here? I could come back another time."

"Yeah, sure, don't worry about that. Try to relax a bit."

Maria returned from the kitchen, placing two glasses filled with lemonade in front of them. Her eyes still didn't look friendly at all.

"_Se como te sientes sobre ella y no me gusta es un poco."_

She was about to turn around again when he wrapped his hand around her wrist to keep her where she was.

Slowly he lifted Maria's hand to his mouth and pressed his lips against her fingertips.

"I should have met you in your office." Mary Alice muttered, taking a sip from the drink. It was way too sourly for her taste but she didn't want to offend Maria when she was once in her life trying to be nice to her.

"This lemonade tastes like crap. Wished we had some whisky here or at least some beer. I'd kill for some beer."

He said something to his wife that made her smack him against his head with so much force that he yelped like a puppy.

"Oh baby, please don't be mad at me all the time. _Besame_."

"_Proxima vez ur bebe, te dejo. Te dejara para siempre."_

„_Besame,"_

He cupped her face between both of his hands and kissed her lips over and over again until Mary Alice cleared her throat nervously.

"Jasper, there is something I wanted to ask you. It won't take long."

"I'm not going to one of those stupid meetings again. They are for losers, for fucking losers who don't have control over their lives. I don't belong there."

"If you say so,"

"Yeah, I do."

"Can we talk alone for a few moments?"

"I don't have any secrets from my wife."

"That she knows about. Look, this is work-related…kind of."

"Didn't you tell me that you wouldn't want my help….as long as you shall live…if I remember correctly?"

"I don't want your help, just your opinion…professionally so to speak."

"On what?"

"If someone signs a contract that holds some unlawful clauses does that mean the rest of the contract is a juristic farce as well? Bella is so terribly naïve when it comes to that kind of stuff and I don't want her to get into unnecessary trouble."

"Are you trying to test whether I'm sober? You and Chicago girl broke up and now you're working as her lawyer?"

"We didn't break up."

"Good. That makes me happy. Although I have to admit that I like getting drunk with you. It holds a certain pleasure for me."

"Yeah, makes you probably feel less like the loser you are not."

"Whatever. Now, how come that you and I'm-never-going-to-talk-to-her-again Bella are back…or not back together now?"

"She didn't cheat on me."

"What about the pregnancy thing?"

"It's not her baby. Well, it is but not. Jeez, this is so complicated to explain."

"Let me give you a little clue. If you ever show up in court and start your final speech with— it's so complicated, I'll end you. Or more likely the jury will end you. Nothing is complicated. Most things are easy when you just say them like they are."

"A rich couple is paying her money for having this child for them."

"For shit? How much money are we talking about?"

"Does it matter?"

"I'm just curious, Aly. Are you trying to make sure she gets enough for keeping someone else's bun in her oven?"

"No. This is wrong. All of this is so wrong. These people talked her into doing this but she doesn't really know what she is getting herself into."

"How does she feel about it?"

"She's trying to play down her feelings. But I know better. I know she'll never be happy with herself again, if she gives the baby away."


	7. Chapter 7

[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] Thanks to everyone who took the time to review and alert my story here.

I'm sorry about the messy Spanish translations, I used for Maria in the last chapter. Spanish is a beautiful language, but really complicated if you don't speak it. Anyway, it was supposed to be a fun part of this project but I'll probably skip that for the future to not embarrass myself any more than I already have.

This chapter here is dedicated to **Arael89** and **Villemo79**. I hope you'll enjoy.

****Chapter 7****

_Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be_

_(Thomas á Kempis)_

Mary Alice was aware that there was an immense difference between what's right in layman's terms and what was right in the juristic sense of the word. She was proud that she managed to keep her emotions out of the cases she worked on. Well, at least mostly she did. Of course it still made her nervous being in court but that was mostly because she felt as if everyone was expecting her to fail. Certain people had expected her to fail her entire life or at least all the time of her life that she had memory of. Pregnant at the tender age of fourteen, unable to remember the name of her child's father or even those of her own parents—that's not how successful life stories start. The thing was that Mary Alice had people surrounding her that believed in her and for that she would always be incredibly grateful to her foster parents. They had told her how to be strong and right now being strong was exactly what she needed to be.

"Miss Brandon, are you sure that you want to accompany me to this hearing? This will probably get all emotional and I can't risk having you crying in that courtroom. It would make our office look highly unprofessional."

She cringed but forced her pearly shimmering lips into a small smile before speaking up.

"You don't have to worry, Mr. Shannon. I never cry."

It was true. Mary Alice hadn't cried one single time since that day so many years ago when she had woken up in that goddamn greyhound bus. Carlisle, her foster father had sent her to several doctors, including a neurologist and an eye specialist. All of them had agreed that there wasn't anything physically wrong with her. She was able to cry. Her problem was mentally but after seeing a psychotherapist for a few months, she had thrown a fit. Telling her foster parents that all of these sessions were a waste of money and time for they didn't seem to show any kind of effect.

"You don't cry? Well, that's good to know. Have you read the file that I emailed you earlier this morning?"

"Sure, Mr. Shannon, I did. The police report was a mess though. If I read one of the essays of my son, they have a similar structure. I also can't believe anybody considered not speaking to the neighbor who called the cops that night."

"Would be irrelevant, Miss Brandon. The jury will pity our client, Mrs. Tanner, whether that half-senile man who called 911 testifies the events of said night or not. Mrs. Tanner's hubby will spend a shitty long time behind bars and that's where scum like him belongs."

Mary Alice nodded her head, stepping outside the Mercedes when Shannon parked it in front of the court building.

"Ready, Miss Brandon?"

"I'm always ready." she murmured, feeling her cell starting to vibrate in the pocket of her leather coat. Fumbling it out on the way towards the grey brick building she noticed a new message from her beloved girlfriend.

_**Hate waking up without you. Miss you so very much. Kiss B.**_

Quickly she typed a reply before turning her cell to silent.

_**Miss you more. Use that plane ticket I gave you and come here as soon as you can. I love you. Aly**_

Inside the building, Mr. Shannon greeted the pale looking client who seemed as if she hadn't slept in several days. The little red-haired girl whom Mary Alice assumed to be her daughter was biting some glittery nail polish off her fingernails. Her entire face seemed to consist of nothing but huge fearful looking eyes.

"Mrs. Tanner, this is the newest addition of King & Son. Let me introduce you to Miss Mary Alice Brandon."

"Nice to meet you." she mumbled lifelessly when she clasped her cold fingers around Mary Alice's hand.

Then an apparitor showed up, informing them that they were ready to get started.

The air inside the courtroom was icy and Mary Alice instinctively rubbed her hands over her bare forearms when she sat down next to Mr. Shannon.

"Your red blouse is pretty." The little girl mumbled shyly, rocking back and forth on her chair.

"Be quiet, Bree. Have you forgotten that I told you that you need to be silent here? You're such a stupid thing."

The door was opened and Mary Alice almost managed to break the heel of her newly acquired cream-colored Louboutin shoes when she rose from her seat. It was painful to wear these beautiful instruments of torture all the time but yet it was the only way to balance out her lack in height. She detested that she was so small and fragile. Pixie-like, that's how a lot of people described her physical appearance and the young lawyer hated that comparison with a passion. Pixies had stupid, pink glitter wings. She had an ivy league degree for crying out loud. She was not sweet. Sweet girls ended up as waitresses in cheap restaurants, wearing stupid uniforms.

"Good Morning, everyone." The grey-haired judge spoke into the microphone on his polished mahogany desk. "This is case seven-nine-four-two, the state of Washington against Mr. Andrew Tanner."

He nodded his head towards the police officer to his right side and the man rushed out to return a few moments later, with his hand grabbed tightly around the defendants hand-cuffed wrists.

The man grinned at his trembling wife and daughter before sitting down at the left side of the courtroom.

"Don't be afraid." Mary Alice whispered into Mrs. Tanner's ear. "He can't hurt you anymore."

Jasper entered the room and Mary Alice's voice died in her throat. What the hell was he doing here? Having him here, trying to handle a case like this was a bad idea. Should she ask Shannon to insist on a new prosecutor? No, she couldn't do that. If she did, she would have to explain to her boss why she thought the curly-haired prosecutor to be not able to deal with this case. There was no way she could do that. She had promised to keep all the dark secrets about his childhood that Jasper had confessed to her to herself.

"Case seven-nine-four-two the state of Washington against Andrew Tanner," Jasper started, his voice coming out sharp like a razorblade.

"Mr. Tanner, it is the aim of this court to prove that you are guilty of physical child abuse as well as civil disorder against the police officers who tried to arrest you."

The judge cleared his throat, taking a sip from his glass of water before turning directly to the defendant for the first time.

"Mr. Tanner, you have chosen to use your right to defend yourself in this trial. How do you plead, guilty or not guilty?"

"Guilty, your Honor," Tanner whispered hoarsely.

"So, guilty it is. Don't think this is going to make things easier for you." Jasper mumbled, taking a few steps around in the courtroom. When he was tensed like this, he always reminded Mary Alice of a caged wild animal that was waiting for its chance to attack someone.

"Your honor, may I call the first witness?"

"You may, Mr. Whitlock."

"The prosecution would like to hear, the defendant's wife, Mrs. Julia Tanner."

The chair next to Mary Alice squeaked on the linoleum floor and the small kitten heels of Mrs. Tanner's shoes sounded like tiny little mice running around when she stumbled over to the witness stand.

"Raise your right hand, Mrs. Tanner."

She obeyed and Mary Alice noticed how the woman's fingers trembled nervously.

"State your full name for the record."

"Julia Megan Tanner."

"Do you swear to tell the truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"I swear."

"Mr. Whitlock, your witness."

Jasper's eyes narrowed when he walked towards the witness stand, placing his left hand on the wood before he spoke up again.

"So, Mrs. Tanner, seems like this should be an easy case. Your husband has already pleaded guilty."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"You know what would have been a good thing? You calling the police said night."

"Objection," Shannon called in a hard voice. "Mrs. Tanner is not the accused one in this case. It has already been put to record, why she couldn't call the cops. She was fearing for her own life and that paralyzed her actions."

"Sustained,"

"Mrs. Tanner, was the incident on that night the first time your husband hit your daughter?"

"No, it wasn't. Just the first time he used something else to hit her apart from his flat hand."

"Do you think there is a difference between hitting a child with an object such as a belt or just the hand?"

"I don't know."

"Too bad,"

"I'm so sorry about everything. I'm going to divorce my husband."

"That's a decision to which I would like to congratulate you, Mrs. Tanner. Now, tell me how often have you seen your husband raise his hand against your daughter."

"I don't know exactly."

"Often? Like, let's say once a week or more often?"

"That depended."

"On what?"

"How she behaved. Bree is such a difficult child. Andrew works night shifts at the stock market. He needs to sleep at day and sometimes she was too loud and woke him up. That always made him furious."

"Has he ever hit you in anger?"

"No. He just yelled at me."

"But he hit your daughter. Do you know that it is a crime in this country to witness a child being abused and do nothing?"

"Objection, leading,"

"Overruled. Mrs. Tanner, you're going to answer the question."

"I know what he did was wrong, but it was just with his hand. Just a few slaps on her backside or stuff like that. You can't call that abuse."

"What I can or can't call child abuse is none of your business, Mrs. Tanner."

"I'm sorry he hurt Bree. I told him to stop when he started hitting her with that metal belt on that horrible night."

"Let me give you a clue. The first time he raised his hand or whatever against your nine-year-old; that would have been the right time to tell him to stop. But the truth is you waited too long. You waited until the child was screaming so loud that your neighbors thought a murder was happening in your living room."

"I was scared."

"I assume so was Bree. Thank you, Mrs. Tanner. No, further questions, your Honor."

"Mr. Shannon?"

"No questions, your Honor."

"Mr. Whitlock, you may call the next witness."

"We'd like to hear the child itself now."

Mary Alice took Bree's hand and guided the little girl to the witness stand, lifting her up so that she could sit down on the wooden chair.

"You are supposed to say your name into that microphone." She told the girl, trying to speak as light and cheerful as possible.

"Bree, my names is Bree Tanner."

The judge gulped down the rest of his drink before speaking directly to the child.

"Bree, do you know what's the difference between the truth and a lie?"

"Yes,"

"Fine, that's good. You're a smart girl. Now, Mr. Whitlock here is going to ask you some questions and you are supposed to tell him the truth. Do you think you can do that?"

"If I lie will I go to jail?"

"No, we don't send kids to jail but you're still supposed to tell the truth. Will you promise me to do that?"

The red-haired girl nodded her head, starting to nibble off the rest of nail polish from her thumb.

"Hey, Bree," Jasper whispered, clearing his throat before continuing a bit louder.

"How's your shoulder? Is it still hurting?"

"A bit,"

"I'm sorry about that. Can you tell me what happened to it? Did you fall down or something?"

"No,"

"Then what happened?"

"My Dad hurt me cause he was angry. He said I'm a…I don't remember the word but he, he was so angry. I'm scared when he's so angry."

"Thank you, Bree. You can sit down next to your mother again. Your Honor, no further questions."

"Mr. Shannon?"

"No questions. May I ask to interrupt for a few minutes? This entire hearing is very exhausting for my client."

The judge agreed and Mary Alice went down to the cafeteria to get some coffee. Placing three plastic cups on a tray, she was about to turn around when she bumped against the tall man behind her.

"How's it like defending assholes? It must be very satisfying to support a woman who let her child get abused by her low-life of a husband."

"Jasper, calm down."

"I don't want to calm the fuck down. This woman is trying to look good and yet she did a shitty nothing to help her child."

She placed the tray down on a table and rushed after him, trying to grab the pocket flask from her best friend's hand.

"Give that to me."

"Piss off, Aly. I need a drink."

"Please," she whispered, following him into a small store-room. "You can't drink again. If you don't put that crappy stuff away now, I will—"

"What the fuck? You're like my stupid wife now? I'm done with everyone telling me to stop drinking. I can't deal with all this shit. I saw the child's eyes. They were full of fear. She basically smelled of fear."

He lifted the flask to his quivering lips, taking two greedy sips before dropping it again. A small trail of brown liquid trickled down his jaw.

"Jasper, please, stop it. You can't drink in court. It will get you in trouble."

"Keep your mouth shut. Just leave me the fuck alone."

"No, I won't."

She placed her hand on the sleeve of his shirt, pulling on it until he sat down on the ground, burying his face between his hands. He sobbed dryly before taking another gulp from the flask.

"Stop, I'm begging you."

"Oh Aly, I can't. This stuff here is the only thing that helps me to endure the memories. You don't know how it's like to want nothing more than to forget when you can't."

"You don't know how it's like to want to remember when you can't."

"I know. Doesn't mean, I wouldn't like to switch with you. Sometimes, sometimes I wake up at night because I feel _his_ fists hammering against my chest and then I have to get up and go to Lucy's room just to see that she's alright. I sit down at the edge of her bed and stroke her hair. She's looking so peaceful in her sleep. I never was like that when I was a kid, never and you know why."

**§§SL§§**

Mary Alice's head was throbbing when she eventually made it home in the beginning darkness of the night. After returning from the hearing in court, Shannon had placed a bunch of other files on her desk back at the office that had kept her busy throughout the day. She read through them, arranging a meeting with another client for Thursday morning, so that she would have enough time to prepare for that.

She fumbled for her keys, cursing herself for carrying way too much crap around in her handbag all the time when the door was pulled open in a swift movement.

"Look who found her way home!"

"Matt, is it necessary to be loud like that?" she snarled at him, wondering why he cared if she was late for dinner or not. He was old enough to call the delivery service on his own. Wasn't he?

Then Bella appeared next to Mary Alice's teenage son, lifting her full lips into a shy smile.

"Hey,"

"Baby, what are you doing here?" Mary Alice called out, wrapping her arms around the beautiful brunette. She planted a soft kiss on her lover's lips, deepening it after a few moments when Bella gasped for air. The warm inside of her beloved's mouth tasted sweet and somehow like…like Basil?

"Can the two of you continue eating each other's faces when we are done with dinner? I'm so hungry that I'm probably close to a diabetic coma."

"You don't even know what a diabetic coma is, son."

She took Bella's hand, not letting go of it when they walked into the delicious smelling kitchen.

"Matt, tell me you didn't make Bella cook for us?"

"She offered."

"He's right about that. It's not a big deal anyway, just some spaghetti and meat balls."

Bella sat down on one of the kitchen chairs, pulling Mary Alice on her lap. The dainty woman sighed, rubbing her nose against the hollow of her lover's throat while kicking her shoes off her feet.

"Aly, can we eat now. I'm hungry."

"Matt, go and eat in your room and give us some privacy."

"Great idea, you know what; if you move to Chicago on your own, B and you can make out like 24/7."

"Matthew!"

"Kay, kay, I'm off here. Thanks for cooking, Bella. I love it when you visit. You're a better Mom than Aly."

With that he shoved a pile of spaghetti on a plate, grabbing a can of soda to place both of it on a tray before he rushed up the stairs to his room.

"I can't believe you are already here."

"You texted me to come as soon as I could and here I am,"

Mary Alice kissed Bella's mouth again, caressing the silk-like hair of her lover by weaving her fingers through Bella's thick curls.

"I missed you so much. I missed you more than it should be possible to miss someone after one single day."

"It has been one day and five hours to be a bit more precisely. I cancelled another appointment I had with my gynecologist. The Masen's will be furious if they find out."

"These people need to relax. You are just pregnant and not severely sick."

Bella sighed, pressing her lips against Mary Alice's neck. A shiver went down her beloved's spine when the brunette started suckling the sensitive skin between her teeth.

"You're marking me."

"Yes, because I want everyone to know you are mine."

"I'm yours whether you leave a hickey on my neck or not. How are you feeling? You look so pale, are you sick? Matt shouldn't have made you cook. The boy is impossible."

"I'm fine, no need to worry. My back hurts a bit but that's just from the plane, I assume."

"I bought you first class tickets. That can't have been that uncomfortable."

"Well, I might have exchanged them. It was just too much money."

"You are hurting my feelings if you don't accept a gift from me. At least you are wearing the bracelet I gave you."

"It's lovely. Look, I know you're doing this because you love me but this spending money on me unnecessarily, it has to stop."

"Baby, what is the point in me having a good job if I don't get to spoil my girlfriend."

"It makes me feel awkward. I have nothing to give back to you."

"Bella, you give me everything. I love you. Try to relax a bit. How long are you going to stay with me in Seattle?"

"For the rest of the week,"

"Really? That's fantastic. I'm sorry that I have to work though."

"You'll be here at night, won't you?"

Mary Alice smiled against Bella's mouth before slipping her tongue between her lover's parted lips. She was so beyond happy to have her girlfriend here with her. She loved Bella so very much and was determined to do everything to make her happy.

"I want you to rest a bit while you are here. No cleaning the house and shit like that. I'll do that. Well, I, tell Matt to do some stuff and the rest can wait."

"What am I supposed to do while you are at work? I can't sit around and do nothing."

"Read some pregnancy advice books. We can order some of them on Amazon. There was this one book Esme gave to me when I had Matt. That was fun. Too bad I can't remember what that was called."

"Angela has bought one for me. She gave it to me when she had her latest check-up in the hospital."

"That woman should get her health under control instead of trying to play happy family with her weirdo husband."

"Edward is not weird."

"Look up weird in the dictionary. I bet there's Masen's picture right next it. These mood swings. And that hair, the hair looks like a bird has tried to build a nest in it. If my son would dare to run around like that, I'd force him to get a fucking haircut."

Bella giggled, twisting her hair up into a messy knot.

"Maybe the baby will have his hair."

"Poor child,"

"The child will be lucky having such wonderful parents. Angela is so thrilled about everything. She has already ordered some furniture for the baby's room; all handmade by a native guy who has specialist on eco-friendly designer furniture."

"I bet the baby will enjoy puking and peeing on all their designer crap. These people have too much money. They have too much money because other people who have too much money spend way too much of theirs on Masen's depressing paintings."

"That's just a hobby. Edward's parents were pretty rich because his father owned some land in Alaska where they found oil."

"Oh I see."

"Can we go upstairs? I'm a bit exhausted from the flight. My feet are swollen. They are not supposed to be swollen at this point of my pregnancy."

"Is that a clause in that farce of a surrogate mother contract as well? You are supposed to develop the correct symptoms at the expected time."

When they were inside Mary Alice's bedroom, she made Bella sit down on the edge of the bed, kneeling down in front of her. Removing first the right, then the left one of her girlfriend's Chucks, she placed them carelessly on the ground next to her together with Bella's socks.

"You need to allow me to buy you some decent shoes."

"If I try to walk in heels like you, I might twist an ankle. That's nothing I want to risk."

Mary Alice started kneading Bella's toes, rubbing them between her fingers before pressing her thumb against the ball of the foot.

"Don't stop. This is so good, so very good." Bella murmured tiredly, leaning her head back against the pillow. A few minutes later a loud snoring noise reached Mary Alice's ear. She suppressed a giggle in her throat and stood up from the carpet again. Carefully, she placed a blanket over Bella's body, leaning down to brush a wisp of the reddish brown hair out of her lover's forehead. Then she sat down next to her, unable to turn her eyes from the woman she loved so very much.


	8. Chapter 8

[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] Thanks to everyone who took the time to read and review. I'm happy that some of you are enjoying my story.

This chapter here is dedicated to the beautiful person who inspired me to write the shopping part in it. You know who you are *blushes*

****Chapter 8****

_Of all ghosts, the ghosts of our old loves are the worst_

_(Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)_

Her dreams were as much a secret to Mary Alice as her mysterious past for she never managed to remember anything about them, no matter how hard she tried. Sometimes she woke up in the middle of the night, her body covered in a thin layer of sweat and her heart racing in her chest, but she couldn't memorize what had happened in the nightmare that had haunted her sleep.

In her lover's arms though, with her cheek resting against the soft pillow of deliciously smelling chestnut-curled hair, she felt safe. Bella's hands moved down Mary Alice's neck, caressing the skin on her girlfriend's neck with her fingertips.

"Are you awake?" Bella whispered, tickling Mary Alice's ear with her warm breathe.

"No,"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm too tired to be awake."

A low chuckle left Bella's throat when she shifted the two of them around until Mary Alice was underneath her. In a gentle movement, she circled her hands down her lover's shirt, feeling the tips of Mary Alice's breast pebbling against her palms when she started massaging them gently.

Then she lifted the shirt up and lowered her mouth to plant several open mouthed kisses around her girlfriend's breasts. Swirling the tip of her tongue against the rosy nipple before she suckled first one then the other into the wet warmth of her mouth, Bella wanted nothing more than to make the beautiful woman under her moan from the pleasure she was giving her.

She parted Mary Alice's slim thighs by shoving her knee between them and when she started rubbing against the thin fabric of lace panties, Bella realized that they were already damp from her beloved's arousal.

Planting a tender kiss on Mary Alice's hipbone Bella shoved her girlfriend's underwear to the side and circled her forefinger up and down between the slick wetness. A groan escaped the brunette's throat when she licked the warm essence off her finger a few moments later.

"Do you want my mouth on you?" Bella whispered, her voice trembling huskily.

For the first time since her beloved had started seducing her, Mary Alice opened her eyes, blinking into Bella's brown ones. She loved this shy woman so very much and she didn't want to push her boundaries too far. But maybe sometimes pushing was good. She wanted Bella to go down on her so very badly.

"Aly?"

"You don't have to do this if you are not ready."

"How do I know that I'm ready? I just know that I want to make you feel good. But I'm…so nervous about this. What if I do it wrong?"

"You can do no wrong. Don't be afraid."

Bella nodded her head and hooked her fingertips under the sides of Mary Alice's panties, pushing them down so that the dark-haired woman could kick them off in a swift movement.

Mary Alice could hear her beloved Bella take a deep breath through parted lips before finally, oh finally she felt her lover's velvety tongue against her most intimate flesh for the very first time.

It was heavenly, so tender and gentle, as Bella moved her tongue through the wet folds of Mary Alice's sex.

Unable to keep still Mary Alice started rocking her hips up against Bella's mouth trying to get her lover's tongue even closer against her throbbing clit.

The muscles in Mary Alice's abdomen started tightening, her thighs trembled and then Bella shoved two dainty fingers inside Mary Alice, pressing them upwards a moment before she felt her lover's inner walls clenching around them over and over again as her climax made her entire body shudder.

"You are so wet." Bella mumbled, wiping a bit of Mary Alice's essence from her quivering bottom lip. "I can't remember you ever being as wet as this before."

"I can't control that, especially not when you do those kind of thing to me. You made me come so hard, so very hard. Oh baby, I love you so very much."

Cupping Bella's face between her hands, the brunette whimpered into Mary Alice's mouth, as their lips connected in a passionate kiss.

"I love you. Can we stay in bed the entire day?"

"I would love to do that but unfortunately I have to work. Do you want to meet me for lunch break?"

"I'd love to. Now, come with me. You know how much I love it to take a shower with you."

Rubbing her wet body against Bella's underneath the shower a few moments later, Mary Alice's fingers moved between her lover's legs, rubbing her thumb over the sensitive area around Bella's clit, before easily slipping first two then a third finger into the tightness of Bella's pussy. She started thrusting them in and out, back and forth in a teasingly slow rhythm, until Bella's inner lips started quivering against Mary Alice's palm.

Lucky that the warm water of the shower that was pouring down on them would drown her lustful groans, Bella let go, feeling her insides tighten around Mary Alice's finger, as she reached the peak of her lust.

Spending a bit too much time, brushing and caressing Bella's silk-like hair, Mary Alice cringed slightly when her eyes captured the time on her cell. Quickly, she twisted her own hair into a strict knot and applied a bit of mascara and lip gloss before stepping into a navy blue dress. Fumbling around with the zipper, she sighed deeply as she felt Bella's full lips against her shoulder.

"Let me help you. It's my fault that you are going to be late."

"It's okay. I'll blame it on traffic. My secretary can entertain my first client with her usual gossiping until I arrive at the office."

Mary Alice kissed Bella's mouth tenderly before rushing down the stairs to grab her handbag and car keys. She already couldn't wait for this day to be over as soon as possible.

**§§SL§§**

"An out-of-court settlement? Why? I mean, weren't these people so terribly fond of going to court in order to get as much smart money as possible? What made them change their mind?"

Shannon snored, taking a gulp from the cup of black coffee in front of him.

"Maybe they hope to end things faster that way. Or their loser of a lawyer is scared to mess with our company. King & Son has a pretty impressive name in this State."

"I know. That's the reason why I wanted to start working here. It holds so many possibilities."

"I like women with ambition. It's too bad the boss is sending you to Chicago to work for his dipshit of a son."

Someone knocked on the door to Shannon's office and when Jessica's curly head appeared in the doorframe, Mary Alice raised one eyebrow.

"The Dwyer's and their lawyer are here. Do you want me to tell them you need some time to prepare for the appointment?"

"Jessica, for heaven's sake that would make me look completely incompetent. Just offer them some coffee and sandwiches until I'm ready."

"Yes, Aly."

Reading through the file while listening to Mr. Shannon's suggestions at the same time, Mary Alice tried to memorize everything as good as possible. It was her job to make sure that the Dwyer's wouldn't ruin her client Mr. Crowley financially too much. Maybe she also could convince these people into taking back the charges about bodily injury. They were based on nothing anyway and would easily be crushed down in court.

A smile flashed over Mary Alice's face as she entered her own office a couple of minutes later.

Phil Dwyer was a good looking guy, with too white teeth who almost managed to break Mary Alice's fingers when he shook her hand.

"It's nice to meet you," she mumbled, before turning her attention to the thin woman with messily dark blonde hair. Her eyes were hidden behind some green colored sunglasses that matched the flower print of her blouse.

"So, you're the lawyer who is trying to screw us?" she snarled, grabbing the sides of her wheel chair tightly between her fingers.

"Renee, Darling, you promised me to stay calm."

"I don't mind, Mr. Dwyer. It is totally understandable that your wife is agitated about this whole situation."

"Situation? You call the fact that I'm a fucking cripple now a situation? Are you stupid or something?"

"Renee, please—,"

"Don't tell me what to do, Phil. I won't let these rich fuckers screw me with a shitty nothing. Their son ruined my life. He ruined everything."

"Mrs. Dwyer, I'm sorry about your accident and the consequences it is having on your life."

"I could care less whether you are sorry or not. Aren't you ashamed to defend someone who ruined another person's life so irrevocably?"

"Tyler Crowley deserves some juristic support as much as anyone else. Where is your lawyer by the way? I think he should be with us, making sure that I don't…screw you too much."

"I'm here," a deep voice called behind Mary Alice's head and when she turned around a sudden shiver of fear went down her spine so abruptly that she lost her balance and landed flat on her knees.

"Oh I'm sorry. Did I startle you?" The tall man asked her, with a slimy grin upon his face. His greasy hair was pulled into a ponytail in his neck with a simple rubber band.

"I'm fine, thank you. My name is Mary Alice Brandon. It's a pleasure to meet you."

His hand was cold around her fingers when he introduced himself to her as James Huntsman. He tightened the grip around her wrist a bit more before eventually letting go of it again.

"Mary Alice," he mumbled, circling the tip of his tongue between his pale lips. "What a beautiful name. I knew a Mary Alice once. She was a little bitch."

"We had a Mary Alice on my hockey team back at school. She was tough." Mrs. Dwyer mumbled, crumbling a tissue into tiny pieces before tossing them carelessly on the ground. "I wanted to name my daughter after her but my ex-husband had this ridiculous crush on that Italian actress and he always needed to have the last word on everything."

"Well, we'll see who is going to have the last word in this case, won't we, Mary Alice?"

"Please, call me Miss Brandon, Mr. Huntsman, everything else would be highly unprofessional."

"If you prefer it that way, Miss Brandon,"

"Yes, I would. Now, about your suggestion to end this case in an out of court settlement; how much money would you consider appropriate?"

"Appropriate? You have such a way with words, Miss Brandon. How much money is your client willing to offer?"

Mary Alice cleared her throat and handed him the folder with the included information. He smirked again, nibbling on the edge of his pen before crossing out the number written on the sheet. Then he scrawled something down on it before returning the folder back to Mary Alice. His fingers touched hers a bit longer than it was necessary and once again, the strange fearful feeling spread through her entire body. What the hell was wrong with her? This wasn't the first time someone was trying to intimidate her and still when the Dwyer's and Huntsman left her office two hours later, she felt completely exhausted, both physically and mentally. She sighed deeply, burying her face in both of her hands while she waited for her tensed nerves to relax again. Her phone started ringing and when she picked it up, her voice cracked jittery.

"Aly, I have your son on line two for you. He said it's important."

"Alright, Jessica, thanks."

"You're welcome. Let me know if you need anything more."

"Aly?"

"Matt, I hope this is important. I have a bunch of things to do."

"Can I use your credit card for buying some stuff?"

"What kind of stuff?"

"Does it matter? It's just thirty bucks. You spend like ten times as much as that on your stupid shoes."

"Well, it is my choice what I decide to spend my money on. Are you going to tell me what you want to use my card for?"

"Will you promise me not to make a snappy comment?"

"I try to."

"Alright, I want to buy a present for Damaris' birthday next week. I thought if I'd get her something really good, it would help her to remember me when I move to Chicago with you."

§§SL§§

Bella's cheeks blushed into a bright crimson color when Mary Alice pulled her inside the small shop around the corner of the coffee shop where the two of them had shared a piece of apple pie. Mary Alice squeezed her girlfriend's hand and circled her thumb over Bella's wrist, pretending to draw an invisible heart on the soft skin there.

"Aly, we can't be here. It's embarrassing. If you want to buy toys we, I mean, you can order them on the Internet."

"That wouldn't be as much fun as this here. Now, tell me what are you most curious about?"

"Dildos, perhaps? I feel so embarrassed. I wish I could make myself invisible."

Mary Alice laughed and hugged Bella from behind, before grabbing a silver colored vibrator from a shelf. When she pressed its tip against Bella's nose, the brunette squeaked in surprise.

"Why are you doing this?"

"To find out if you like the vibrations of that one. Does it feel good?"

"I don't know. My nose isn't exactly my most erogenous zone."

"Well, they can't let people test the toys where they are supposed to be used in the end. That would be a bit…unhygienic."

Bella turned her head and kissed Mary Alice's mouth again, letting her tongue glide between her lover's full lips.

"Can I ask you something?" she whispered hesitantly when she managed to pull back from the kiss, instantly missing the warmth of her lover's lips against her own. "It's a stupid question."

"You can ask me anything you want to know. There is no need to be embarrassed, although the fact that you are makes you so very cute somehow."

"Have you used toys a lot with your previous girlfriends?"

"Are you asking because you are jealous? Because there is absolutely no reason for you to be, I'm with you now."

"I'm not jealous. I'm just intimidated, kind of. You're the only woman I ever had sex with."

"And I love being the one to teach you all the lovely things two women can do with each other. Now, let me show you a bit more stuff before I have to return to my office."

Following Mary Alice through the shelves, Bella held on to her girlfriend's hand as if she was a little girl who was afraid to get lost.

"Why are these shaped like that?" she asked, turning a purple colored vibrator between her hands.

"That's supposed to stimulate the g-spot. I bet you would like that a great deal."

"Well, maybe we should buy one of those then."

"Excellent choice, sweetie. If it only would be as easy as this trying to buy you some new clothes or shoes."

"I don't care too much about clothes. Shopping is a waste of time and money."

"You're breaking my heart when you say things like that."

"I can't risk doing that. Well, I'm going to need some new clothes in a few weeks anyway. God, I'm going to look like a whale."

"You will still be beautiful to me, don't worry about that. I'm going to buy you the prettiest maternity clothes I can find."

Lifting a black leather belt from a plastic box, Mary Alice smirked at her puzzled girlfriend.

"Would you let me use a strap-on you?"

"Would that make you like the guy in our relationship?"

"I'm very confident in my femininity. I just like the thought of taking you like that. It excites me."

Mary Alice ended up buying the strap-on, together with two dildos and some massage oil that smelled deliciously of sweet coconut.

When the two of them were out of the shop, Bella's cell started ringing.

"Hi, Cha—Dad, how are you?"

"No, I'm not in Chicago. I'm in Seattle, visiting my friend Aly."

"No, I'm not making that up to meet with my secret boyfriend. You know that I don't have one."

"Yeah, of course, I would tell you if I was dating someone. I can't wait for you to intimate the poor guy."

"Dad! Please, you are embarrassing me when you're trying to hook me up with Jake again. I don't like him like that."

"No, I don't have your stupid pepper spray with me. The morons at the airport security took it away. Yeah, I'll be careful, you too. Love you."

Shoving the cell back into her handbag, Bella sighed deeply sitting down next to a little fountain. She took off her shoes and dipped her feet into the water.

"Your father seems a bit worried about you."

"I guess that's his way of showing me that he cares. After Mom died, I was everything he had."

"Do you remember your mother?"

"Not really. I know that she always used to sing when she cleaned the house and that she burned the pancakes for my breakfast. I still have that awful burned taste on my tongue. She was such a horribly bad cook."

"Esme is the shit in the kitchen. Everything she makes turns out so incredibly delicious. She's a domestic goddess. No wonder Matt would prefer living with her instead of me."

"Your domestic goddess has turned your son into a spoiled brat. She is not as perfect as you think her to be."

"She's a better mother than me. When Matt was little I was always so busy with school and stuff. I wasn't there when he said his first word or when he made his first steps. When he woke up at night because he was scared he called for her, not me. It's more like I'm his older sister to him or something close to that."

"You're a good mother, stop doubting yourself on that all the time. Matt needs to calm down a bit when it comes to complaining all the time. At his age I practically managed to handle the entire household by myself because Charlie was working so much. But, oh, I forgot that I'm a woman. We were born to enjoy cleaning bathrooms and dirty windows."

Mary Alice wrapped her arm around Bella's waist to circle her fingertips over the small stripe of naked skin on her lover's back. The brunette sighed deeply, resting her head against Mary Alice's shoulder.

"Are you tired?"

"Maybe a bit,"

"You should go home and rest a bit. I'll bring something for Dinner with me when I come home."

"Kay. That sounds good." Bella whispered, slowly standing up from the bench again. She pressed her hand against her lower abdomen, inhaling deeply through her mouth before pressing her lips together.

"Are you in pain? What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, it's nothing, it's already over. Was just this strange feeling in my stomach, but now it's gone."

"Baby, please, don't play it down when you aren't feeling well. Your face is so pale and your hands are trembling. Let me call Carlisle to let him have a look at you."


	9. Chapter 9

[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] Thanks to those of you who are still with me. I know it's been forever since I updated this story and I'm not going to bore you with excuses. I'm grateful to have such amazing readers that are willing to deal with my plot-bunny haunted mind. I love you all beyond words for showing me your support over and over again.

****Chapter 9****

_Be kind to your shadow_

_(Rebecca Lawless)_

The baby underneath Bella's heart was dead. It had been dead for some time now and Carlisle explained to them that the young woman should have had a miscarriage by now.

"I'm very sorry," he said, wiping the remaining contrast gel from Bella's stomach. "I'll set up an appointment for removing the embryo. I'm sorry, I really am."

With that he walked out of the examination room, leaving Mary Alice and a crying Bella on their own.

"Honey, is there anything I can do for you? Do you want me to call Charlie?"

"He doesn't even know I'm pregnant. Why would I want to tell him now? My baby is dead. Oh my poor, poor baby."

Gently Mary Alice rocked her girlfriend back and forth against her chest. She didn't know what to say. She had no clue what to do to comfort her. Saying she was sorry seemed so meaningless, so little.

"You need to call the Masen's."

"What for?"

"It's their baby. It was their baby." she whispered, wiping tears from her cheeks. "They have a right to know."

They have a right to mind their own fucking business, Mary Alice thought bitterly. If it wasn't for them and this idiotic surrogate mother idea they planted into Bella's too kind heart…

"I'll call weirdo and his wife. Please, don't worry about anything."

"It's strange. I didn't even know that I loved the baby until Carlisle told me it was dead. Isn't that weird?"

"No, it's not. I understand. I didn't want to love Matt when I was having him. Love is not what we're supposed to do. It just happens."

She lowered her head and pressed her forehead gently against Bella's. Then she touched her mouth against the tip of her girlfriend's nose.

"We could still have a baby. The two of us, I mean, if you wanted it."

"You told me that you didn't want any more kids."

"Well, I could carry it and then you'll be the one who stays home to change her diapers."

"Her?"

"If we have a kid together, it needs to me a girl. Boys are a pain in the ass. I see that with Matt every day."

"He's not a bad boy. The two of you just need to forgive each other for what went wrong in the past."

"You worry too much about me and my pubertal monster. I want you to relax. They should give you something so that you can get rest before they do this…surgery."

A nurse walked in to check Bella's blood pressure before instructing her to swallow some pills with a glass of water.

"I love you." Mary Alice whispered, brushing one of the mahogany curls behind Bella's ear.

Outside the room she ran into her foster father who had a pretty concerned expression on his face.

"Are you alright? Do you want to come to my office with me for a moment?"

"Will it change the fact that Bella's baby is dead?"

"No, it won't. I just thought you'd like to talk."

"I can't. If I talk about this I will break down and I can't do that. I need to be strong for her."

He wrapped his arms around the small woman, pulling her into a tight hug.

"You always want to be strong. It doesn't make you weak if you cry when you're upset."

"I never cry."

"You cried when you had Matt."

"I didn't cry. I just yelled profanities at you and Esme."

"You were pretty drugged. That's why you don't remember the crying part."

They spoke for a few minutes until Carlisle was paged to an emergency. She took the elevator downwards and decided that she was getting a pizza to bring home for dinner.

She had ordered and was filling up her diet coke when she heard someone clearing his throat right behind her.

"How nice to meet you again, Miss Brandon,"

"Mr. Huntsman."

"Do you want to eat with me? We could discuss the Crowley case again. My clients are not very happy with how things are developing."

"Call my secretary to arrange an appointment. I don't wish to discuss work-related stuff in my rare free time."

"Why don't we skip all this boring work stuff then and have a drink together? Maybe you'll warm up a bit after some wine."

"I'm not interested in dating you. You're not exactly my type."

"Still a little bitch," he murmured through his teeth. "Some things obviously don't change."

"Insulting me won't help you to get in my pants. Now, excuse me, I think my order is ready."

"Do you like playing this ridiculous little game?"

"I don't play games. It's below me." she stated, turning around to carry the box with the pizza out to her car. He followed her, like an unwanted shadow, his shoes clicking on the asphalt of the parking lot.

When she had opened the car, he shoved his arm between her and the door to stop her from getting inside.

"What are you doing? Are you crazy? I should sue your ass for harassment."

"Stop being such a little tease. Why are you acting like you don't know who I am? Think you're something better now, don't you?"

Mary Alice shoved him aside, her knees trembling when she sat down on the seat.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He chuckled and grabbed her face between both of his hands. Before she had time to turn her head to the side, his mouth was on hers, his tongue inside her mouth, making her choke from the foul taste. Then she bite down as hard as she could.

"Ahhhh, god damn it! You bit me. You fucking little whore."

"You're going to regret that, Mr. Huntsman. I'll end you."

He stepped back, spitting some blood on the ground. Then he walked off, whistling a melody between his teeth.

Mary Alice's heart was racing. She felt dirty and when she somehow managed to make it back home, she went straight to the bathroom, emptying her stomach in several heaves.

"Did you booze again?" Matt asked her, kneeling down next to her on the ground. "I'm starting to worry about you."

"I didn't drink. I just…crap, I just had a shitty day. Can you leave me alone?"

"Sure. Where is Bella? Don't tell me the two of you are fighting again."

"She's in the hospital."

"Why? What happened?"

"She…," Mary Alice hesitated for a moment. She wiped her chin with some toilet paper before rinsing her mouth under the faucet. Matt sat down at the edge of the bathtub, watching how she brushed her teeth twice.

"I could make you some tea, if you'd like that." he offered.

A small smile played around Mary Alice's lips as she nodded her head.

When he rushed downstairs to the kitchen, Mary Alice washed her face again, used some mouthwash and brushed her teeth for a third time. She was going to press charges against Huntsman. That man was a complete lunatic.

_Why are you acting like you don't know who I am?_

Huntsman's words echoed in her ears. She tried to remember if she had met that man before, maybe at her time in Law School but she couldn't place him anywhere. He was just a jerk, a man whose brain was too small to grasp the meaning of the word no.

"Aly, your tea is ready!"

She sighed and walked down the stairs, sitting down on the couch. Matt handed her a mug, placing it carefully between her hands.

"You look really pale. Do you want me to call dad to check on you?"

"I don't have any gynecological problems."

"A doctor is a doctor. Are you going to tell me what's wrong with Bella?"

"She…well, she was going to have a baby and she lost it."

"A baby? Is that why you want us to move to Chicago? You and Bella want to play happy family."

"It wasn't _our_ baby."

"Even with a D in Biology, I'd manage to figure that out. Who was the father? Jazz?"

"I assure you that Jasper had nothing to do with it. She was going to have that baby for a childless couple as a surrogate mother."

"She was going to sell the baby? That's sick."

"You're going to forget I even told you about it, especially not in front of Bella."

"Kay, if that's what you want. Can I come with you and visit her tomorrow?"

"Sure, that would be nice."

"Are we still moving to Chicago?" he asked, tugging his feet underneath him as he sat down on the carpet in front of the couch.

"Of course we are. It's important for my career."

"Fine, but I want to stay here in Seattle with Mom and Dad."

"I am your mother."

"You didn't behave like one for most of my life."

"I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry that I was too young and selfish to do better. But I can do better now. I will do better now."

"You will still be you and you're not a mother. Mothers don't let their kids starve."

"The fridge is loaded with food and I brought pizza with me. It's still in the car."

"Great, I'm getting it."

When he returned a few moments later and placed the box on the living room table, Mary Alice was fumbling through her handbag, searching for the number of the Masens' house. She was going to call them tomorrow. Tonight was awful enough without this conversation.

"Is Bella going to live with us when we move to Chicago?"

"I hope so."

"So, do I. She knows how to feed me properly. Cold pizza isn't my idea of a nice dinner."

"You're getting on my nerves. Esme spoiled you too much. I'm not a stay at home mom. I'm working. I'm working a lot and I love what I'm doing."

"Lawyers are soulless sharks."

"Who told you that?"

"Peter."

"Well, he must know. He's been one himself long enough. Do you want to know why I wanted to become one?"

"Cause you can't handle blood. Dad mentioned something about you fainting when you were working as a volunteer in the hospital."

"It's the stench of death that made me pass out. I would have made a bad doctor anyway."

"You think you're a better lawyer?"

"I'm working on that part."

"Good," he stated, leaning down to plant a kiss on Mary Alice's forehead. "I'm in my room, if you need me."

He grabbed another piece of the pizza, stuffing it between his lips with three bites.

"Oh before I forget it, Jazz called earlier. He sounded drunk."

"Crap, why didn't you mention that earlier. I need to call him back."

She went to the kitchen and dialed her best friend's number, being greeted by some groaning.

"What you want, bitch?"

"I know that's just the liquor talking right now. You promised to stay sober."

"I'm sorry, Aly, don't be angry at me. My stupid whore of a wife is mad at me enough."

"Get some therapy."

"Therapy is for losers. I don't need one."

"Yes, you do. Your drinking habits are out of control."

She could hear him cough into the receiver, followed by some slurping noises.

"She said she's going to take the little one away from me, if I don't stop drinking. Maria is a slut for threatening me like this."

"She's just a mother who is worried about her child's well-being. You are scary when you're drunk."

"I would never hurt Lucy. I'm not like _them_."

"I know you're better than your birth parents but this drinking, it needs to stop. It needs to stop right now."

He coughed again and this time it was followed by some cracking noise.

"Damn it, now I broke my bottle. There was still something in it and it was the last one."

"It better was the last one. Now, go to bed. I'll be at your place tomorrow to help you pack for rehab."

"I'm not going to some fucking rehab like a sobbing wussy."

"We'll talk about it tomorrow. Good night, Jazz."

With that she disconnected the call and buried her face in her hands. She waited for the tears to come. They would help to make her feel better. Crying would help to ease the tension inside her but like usually her eyes stayed dry.

_Stop crying bitch or I'll give you something to cry about._

The words hummed in her ears and the next thing that happened were some pictures flashing up in front of her inner eye. She lost her balance, collapsing in a puddle of tea on the kitchen floor.

Mary Alice was remembering, finally remembering her past and she had no clue if would be strong enough to handle it.


	10. Chapter 10

[Disclaimer] All things Twilight belong to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer.

[A/N] It's November. Are you already excited for Breaking Dawn 2? I can't wait to see Bella as a vampire. Maybe it will inspire me to write some vampire Bellice – who knows?

I want to thank my readers for taking the time to read my stories. All of you are close to my heart and I feel blessed to have you by my side. Thanks for your encouraging feedback. It always makes my days way better.

****10****

_It was awfully warm inside the bathroom while fourteen-year-old Mary Alice sat on the closed lid of the toilet inside the trailer she shared with her mother. Her hands cramped around the little white plastic stick with the two blue dots right in its middle. Those two blue dots were going to ruin her life. She sighed. Her life was already fucked up enough._

_After a couple of minutes, she finally managed to stand up again, throwing the pregnancy test into the small container under the sink._

_She took the last money she could find in the jar that was hidden beneath a box of cereals in the kitchen cabinet and counted it on the table. There were several bottles of beer and cheap wine stapled next to it. It was an unpleasant reminder of her mother and low-life of a boyfriend that had disappeared just three days ago. The toddler was gone to. Only the crib in the corner of the trailer reminded of her baby sister's existence. A woman from youth care had taken Cynthia away and as long as her mother refused to do some therapy her chances of getting the child back were small._

_Mary Alice wanted to help her mother but she was young and it was difficult to help someone who refused to accept help._

_She sighed and pulled out a tiny mirror to apply some eyeliner around her eyes. Then she took her backpack and made her way down to the bus station._

_School was almost over when she arrived at the school at the other side of town. It was a much nicer area than the one she was living in and she dreamed of one day living in a nice, clean house with air conditioning instead of a broken ventilator._

_Her lips curled into a smile when she saw him walking towards her with a grin on his face._

"_Did you miss me?" he asked, wrapping his arms a bit too tight around her middle. James always had a tendency to be a bit too rough. But that was probably just the way boys were like._

"_Yes," she whispered. "I missed you."_

"_Cute thing, aren't you?" he chuckled, pressing his lips on hers, parting her lips with his tongue to thrust it between them. Mary Alice stiffened. Whenever he kissed her, she didn't know what to do. She didn't know how she was supposed to feel. It was the same, when they had sex. He seemed to like it a great deal but for her it was just painful and awkward._

"_You are supposed to kiss back. When will you finally learn that, Mary Alice?"_

"_I'm sorry,"_

"_So am I. Don't you love me?"_

"_Of course, I love you."_

"_Do you want to come to my place? My father is still at court. We'll be alone."_

_Alone time with James usually meant sleeping with him and Mary Alice wasn't looking forward to that. She needed to tell him about the pregnancy though. He wasn't going to be pleased, but he loved her. He had told her he loved her._

"_You look hot today," he told her, as he closed the door of his bedroom half an hour later. "Come here and sit on my lap."_

"_Can we talk?"_

"_Talking? Why would we talk? Look, come here and don't be difficult. My parents won't be gone forever."_

"_Are you ashamed of me? You never want your parents to meet me officially."_

"_Hey, I'm not a snob. But my Dad's a lawyer. He has expectations. I'm going to Yale after school to follow his steps."_

"_I could be a lawyer too. Then they would accept me, wouldn't they?"_

"_Cutie, don't be ridiculous. Girls like you don't make it to law school. Girls like you end up working the night shift at some fast food place."_

"_You're mean. Why are you talking to me like that? You said that you love me."_

"_I love you way more, when you don't act like a stupid bitch. Don't ruin our afternoon and come here. There are much nicer things we could do right now than talk about crap."_

_He pulled her on his lap and began to plant kisses down her collarbone. She hissed and jumped up again._

"_We need to talk. It's important."_

"_Kay, spit it out."_

"_I made a test this morning. It was positive."_

"_Are you trying to shit me? That brat can't be mine."_

"_Of course, it's yours. You're the only one I had sex with."_

"_Lying bitch! Girls like you part their legs for everyone!"_

"_Why are you so angry at me? This is our baby."_

"_There will be no baby. You get rid of this thing. I can't have a trailer park slut like you ruining my life."_

"_You said you love me."_

"_I love to fuck you. Do you honestly thing I could fall for a piece of trash like you?"_

_He stepped closer and for a moment Mary Alice expected him to hit her across the face as he lifted his fist and slammed it forward._

_Instead of hitting her though his fist connected with the closet behind her._

"_Piss off and get a fucking abortion before I rip that thing out of you myself."_

"_I want to keep it."_

"_Then you're even more stupid than I thought you are. If you keep it the authorities will take it away. Remember what happened to your sister?"_

"_Why are you mentioning her? That's not fair. I would take care of my baby."_

"_You can't take care of yourself. Look, I warn you. If you try to fuck up my life, you slut, I will end you."_

_Mary Alice's eyes filled with tears, the mascara burning as she tried to blink them away._

"_You can't force me to have an abortion."_

"_What I can and what I can't is beyond that little brain of yours."_

_He grabbed a thick book from his nightstand and smacked it hard against Mary Alice's head. "Stupid bitch! Who do you think you are?"_

_The girl lost her balance and when her forehead connected with the edge of James's bed, her vision faded into black._

Mary Alice's stomach heaved and the taste of bitter acid in her mouth brought her back to the presence. She yelled and yelled, while she could hear Matt knocking and kicking against the closed bathroom door.

Finally he managed to open the lock and kneeled down next to his hysterical mother on the bathroom floor.

"What's wrong with you? Are you hurt?"

She whimpered and after a couple of minutes she managed to stand up again. With quivering hands, she splashed some water into her face.

"I'm going to call Dad."

"No, you won't. It's too late."

"But you just had a panic attack."

"I'm fine," she croaked, trying to play the situation down. "Go to bed."

"I can't sleep when you're in this mood. Is this because of Bella and the baby she lost?"

"No, it's not. Please, go to bed, Matthew. You have school tomorrow."

"Screw school. I can't go to bed when you look like you're going to lose it. What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing,"

"Yep, sure, I'm going to call Dad now. You need some tranquilizers or stuff like that."

He rushed down the stairs and about twenty minutes later, Carlisle entered the bathroom with a worried look on his face.

"You didn't need to come here. I'm fine."

"Matt sounded pretty worried on the phone. Are you really alright, honey?"

"She's hysterical. I had to break the bathroom lock."

Carefully Carlisle wrapped two fingers around Mary Alice's wrist to check her pulse.

"A bit too excited, aren't we?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine at all. Matt, go downstairs and make some tea for your mother."

"Yes, Dad,"

When the boy was gone, Carlisle took Mary Alice's hand and squeezed it gently.

"What's wrong, honey? I've never seen you like this before."

"I remember. I remember everything!"

"You remember what, honey?"

"Everything! I remember fighting with my boyfriend when I told him, I was pregnant. He hit me and then he put me on a greyhound bus, telling me never to show my face anywhere near him again. I remember the last words he said to me."

"What did he tell you?"

"Stop crying, bitch or I'll give you something to cry about."

Carlisle inhaled sharply between his teeth. He put his arm around Mary Alice's dainty shoulder and pulled the young woman against his chest. "It's okay, honey, you can cry now. He can't hurt you anymore."

His words, spoken softly like a whisper managed to break that inner barrier inside of her. For the first time in years, Mary Alice's eyes filled with warm tears.

"Shit, why is she crying now? Dad, is she sick?"

"I'll handle this. Help me to bring her to her bedroom. Did you make that tea?"

"I'll bring it up in a minute when it's ready."

They brought Mary Alice to her bedroom and pulled the blankets over her.

"I'll give you something for your nerves. It will help you sleep."

"I don't want drugs. My mother was an addict. I don't want to end like her."

"You remember your birth parents? That's a good sign."

"I only remember my mom. My dad ran off when I was eight. We lived in a trailer. It was awful."

"Open your mouth and swallow these. We'll talk about everything tomorrow."

Mary Alice was too exhausted to protest and after taking a few sips from the hot tea Matt was holding against her mouth, she drifted into sleep.

The ringing of the doorbell woke her up a few hours later and tiredly she made her way down the stairs.

"Jazz? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to apologize to you. I was drunk when you called me last night. I didn't mean to hurt you with what I said."

"Are you going to Rehab?"

"I don't need some fucking therapy. Look, I have my drinking under control. I really have."

"Try to tell that shit to your wife. Maybe she'll believe your excuses."

"Maria threatened to leave me. How can she do that to me?"

"Well, maybe because you are acting like a selfish prick. You are an alcoholic. When will you finally admit it?"

"Are you mad at me now?"

"I'm not mad at you. I'm pissed. It's not like I haven't a bunch of other things to deal with apart from you."

"Are you fighting with your girlfriend again?"

"No, I'm not. Bella lost the baby. She'll need me now and then I…I…yesterday something happened that made me remember my past."

"For real? How? What happened?"

They walked inside the house and Mary Alice poured him a cup of coffee while she gave him a detailed version of last night's happenings.

"That fucker molested you. I will have his ass for that."

"It was just a kiss."

"I'm not talking about the kiss. I'm talking about what happened back in Biloxi."

"He was my boyfriend. He never forced me to do anything."

"He was eighteen and you were what like fourteen? It doesn't matter if you agreed to let him fuck you. In this country statutory rape is still a crime."

"It wasn't like that."

"Aly, for fucks sake! Why are you defending that asshole? He treated you like crap."

"I'm not defending him. I just don't want anything to do with him. I don't want Matt to have anything to do with that man."

She started crying and Jasper sat down next to her at the kitchen table, taking both of her hands in his.

"Matt doesn't need to know."

"If I press charges against James, court will order a paternity test. You know how these things work like."

"Kay, if that's what you want. I'll keep my mouth shut. I'll keep your secret, like you keep mine."


	11. Chapter 11

[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] Welcome back to a brand new chapter. I'm happy that some of you like this story here. Thanks for your reviews. I appreciate your thoughts a lot.

FAQ's

What happened to Alice's birth parents?

Her father left the family when she was little and her mother died in Rehab from a liver infection. Her half-sister was adopted from a family who moved away from Biloxi soon after that.

****11****

_Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad_

_(Author Unknown)_

Warm arms embraced Mary Alice tightly as she opened her eyes again. She had lost track of time and when she turned her head to check the clock on her nightstand, Jasper cleared his throat.

"It's around eleven a.m. now."

"What?" she gasped jumping up from the bed a bit too fast. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner? Why are you still here? Shit, shit, shit."

"Breathe, Aly, just breathe. Everything will be fine. You needed some rest. I've already called your secretary to cancel your meetings for today."

"I can't take a day off again. I'm drowning in work. Did the hospital call? I need to see Bella."

"I'll drive you there. No problem. Did you think a bit about what you're planning on doing with this bastard Huntsman?"

"Nothing,"

"You can't just ignore what you remembered last night. You need to press charges."

"No," Mary Alice told him, grabbing a black dress and some underwear from her closet. "I'm going to shower now. Try making yourself useful and have some coffee ready when I come down."

He smirked and caressed Mary Alice's messy hair for a split second before he went down the stairs to search for coffee in Mary Alice's cupboards.

Ten minutes later the aroma of fresh coffee and cinnamon bagels filled the air as Mary Alice entered the kitchen.

"Thanks,"

"You're welcome. Aly, please, consider your decision. Scum like this man belongs behind bars. He raped a minor."

"James did not rape me." she growled, lifting the cup with the coffee to her trembling lips. "I never said no."

"You shouldn't take on rape victims as clients. You'd fuck those cases up. It doesn't matter what you said or what you agreed with. He had no right to fuck you or hit you senseless."

"Stop talking about it. I don't want to hear this. I don't want to remember this."

He kneeled down in front of her, squeezing both of her hands between his own.

"I know how it's like to want to forget. No wonder your conscious blended those memories out for so long."

"Maybe I can do it again, if I just try hard enough." she told him, trying to keep her voice from cracking. She finished her coffee and somehow she even managed to take two bites from her bagel before she dropped it on the plate again.

"I'd like to go to the hospital now. Are you still taking me?"

xxx

Pale like a ghost, that's how Bella looked like to Mary Alice when she sat down at the edge of the small hospital bed.

"Hey," Mary Alice whispered, placing her hand carefully on Bella's. "I'm sorry, I'm here so late."

"You're busy with work, I know."

"Not exactly, but let's talk about you now, not me. Are you in pain?"

"A bit. They gave me some painkillers."

"Honey, I'm so sorry this happened to you. If there is anything I can do for you, no matter what, I'll do it."

"Can you make me forget? Can you make me forget this baby existed?"

A sob made Bella's body shudder and once the tears started falling she couldn't stop them anymore.

"I'm here, honey." Mary Alice told her, rocking her crying girlfriend against her chest. She wondered if there were some right words to say in this situation. The baby hadn't been much bigger than a fingertip. It hadn't truly belonged to Bella and still…

"It's my fault. I should have rested more. I'm such a horrible person."

"You're not. Stop blaming yourself for the miscarriage. Stuff like this happens. You can always get pregnant again, if you'd wanted to. You're still young."

"I don't know yet." Bella said, wiping her nose on a tissue Mary Alice handed her. "I'd just like to forget. What did the Masen's say when you told them I lost the baby."

"Crap! I'll call them in my office. Please, don't worry about those people. I'll handle them."

She planted a kiss on Bella's forehead and continued stroking her hand until she fell back to sleep after a couple of minutes. Sleeping was probably the best for Bella right now.

"I love you. Try to sleep now. I'll come back later." Mary Alice whispered in Bella's ear before she left the room as silently as possible.

xxx

Something was different. Mary Alice could feel it as soon as she stepped outside the elevator in her office.

"Aly! Thank God, you're finally here." Jessica told her breathlessly, pulling her young boss with her inside Mary Alice's office.

"I'm sorry. Did you manage to cancel everything for today?"

"I'm a pro at handling those kinds of things. What's wrong with you? It looks like you've cried."

"I'm fine. Thanks for your concern. Why are there balloons all over the floor?"

Jessica grimaced and sat down on Mary Alice's table, crossing one leg over the other.

"King, the sleaze ball, finally managed to knock up the Queen. The boss is so thrilled about the happy news. He bought champagne for all of us. Great isn't it?"

She grabbed a bottle and waved with it in front of Mary Alice's face.

"I saved some for you. Do you want a glass?"

"It's too early to drink." Mary Alice told Jessica, rubbing her temples in small circles. "But I guess one glass won't do any damage."

"I'll have some cups here somewhere. Oh and Aly – Mr. King wants to see you in his office when he comes back from his appointment at court. It sounded important."

"Did he say why?"

"Nope, I don't think so." Jessica said, pouring some sparkling champagne into two plastic cups.

"Cheers,"

Mary Alice sighed and lifted the cup to her mouth to take a sip. Drinking on an empty stomach was not a smart thing to do and Mary Alice knew that.

"I've got a call to make. Go downstairs and copy the Crowley file. Then I want you to fax everything to our office in Chicago."

"Yes, Aly." Jessica mumbled, emptying her cup with a big gulp.

As soon as Jessica was out of the room, Mary Alice pulled out her notebook and typed the number of the Masen's house into her phone.

"Hello?" a light voice greeted her. Crap, it was the woman. Mary Alice would rather have spoken to her weirdo of a husband.

"Hello? Is there anyone?"

Mary Alice sighed and cleared her throat nervously before she spoke up. "Hello Mrs. Masen. This is Mary Alice Brandon. I'm Bella Swan's girlfriend."

"Is something wrong with her? Or with the baby?"

"Mrs. Masen, I'm very sorry," Mary Alice started hesitantly.

"No! Don't tell me she lost the child. How am I supposed to explain this to Edward? This will break his heart."

"Mrs. Masen. Look, I'm really sorry but things like that happen."

"Is Bella okay?" the woman on the other line asked, sniffing into the receiver.

"She's still at the hospital. I'm sorry. More than I can tell you."

"You should be with Bella now. She shouldn't be alone. In which hospital is she? I need to send her flowers or something."

"No need for that. If you want to help Bella, keep your husband away from her. Him coming here and making a scene in front of Bella is not going to make her feel better."

"I'll take care of that. Edward is not a bad person. He's just pretty stressed out. It was so difficult for him when the doctors told me I had cancer."

"I'm sorry about that too."

"I'm still alive, that's what counts. If I can survive cancer, my husband and I can survive losing this child."

"You're a strong woman."

Mary Alice heard a bitter chuckle at the other end. "I don't know how to be strong. Good bye, Miss Brandon. Thanks for the call."

As soon as she disconnected the call, Mary Alice's phone started ringing again.

"Jessica?"

"The boss is back. I've met him and his guest on the floor. They're expecting you in his office."

"Thanks, Jess." Mary Alice mumbled. She quickly took another sip from her champagne, feeling the alcohol warm her empty stomach. Then she wrapped one of her silk scarfs around her neck and applied another layer of lipstick before she stood up.

When she knocked on the door to Mr. King's office, she could hear laughter coming from inside of it.

"Come on in!" Mr. King called, his voice prattling a bit. A clear sign he had been drinking quite a bit himself.

Mary Alice sighed and opened the door finding herself staring into a pair of cold eyes in a grinning face.

"Hello Miss Brandon. Have you already heard the wonderful news? I'm going to be a grandfather? Isn't that exciting?"

"Con-grats, Mr. King," Mary Alice stuttered out, taking a step backwards when she noticed how James raised his hand towards her. What the hell was he doing here?

"Miss Brandon, I assume you've already met Mr. Huntsman."

"Ye-s,"

"Miss Brandon is a bit on the shy side. She and I are practically old friends."

"I wouldn't exactly call it that. What brings you to Mr. King's office? Have your idiotic clients finally agreed to the out of court settlement?"

"The Dwyer's have decided they wish to take things to court. My replacement will try to play the poor handicapped victim card out."

"You're not longer working for them?"

Mr. King chuckled and pointed to the leather seat in front of his desk.

"Take a seat. I have some very good news for you and our Chicago office."

"What kind of news?"

James smirked again, licking his lower lip teasingly slow before he spoke up.

"Me,"

"You? Mr. King, what is this supposed to mean?"

"I've just hired Mr. Huntsman here half an hour ago. He's going with you to Chicago. You'll need some support and Royce will be a bit distracted once my grandchild is born."

"Family is everything, isn't it, Mr. King?" James asked while his eyes never left Mary Alice's white face.

"Indeed, Mr. Huntsman. Now, Miss Brandon aren't you happy I found you some help to deal with things in Chicago?"

She nodded her head, unable to bring out a single syllable.

"I'm sure you two are going to get along just perfect. Now, excuse me for a moment. Call of nature."

When he was gone, Mary Alice managed to stand up from the chair with trembling knees.

"Why did you take on this job? There are dozens of other law firms in Chicago."

"Mr. King's offer was very generous. I couldn't say no to it." He stated, stepping closer behind Mary Alice. She cringed when he placed his hand on her neck.

"Don't touch me, you bastard."

"A bit prudish now, aren't you? I remember how you used to like it when I stroked your neck."

"That was in another life. I'm a different person now."

"You mean you think you're something better now? How many cocks did you have to suck to get your diploma?"

"You're an asshole. I hate you."

"That should make working together quite interesting."

"Try to make a move on me again and I'll rip off your balls. Now, leave me the fuck alone. I have stuff to do."

He grabbed her roughly around the wrist when she was almost out of the door and pulled her towards him.

"Be sweet again, Mary Alice. You and I…we're so good together. I could never forget you. What I did back in Biloxi was a mistake. I was just a stupid boy."

"You were eighteen."

"Age is just a number, sweet ass. Look, wasn't that the best that I talked you out of that shit of keeping the brat? You're a real lady now."

Mary Alice swallowed hard and kicked her heel against James foot as hard as she could.

"What I am is none of your business. Keep your hands to yourself, if you wish to keep them intact."

"I like this new fire in you. It's very exciting. My wife is not like that."

"Who would be stupid enough to marry you?"

He chuckled and rubbed his fingers through his sleek hair. "Her name is Victoria. Our mothers are in the same country club."

Mr. King almost managed to threw Mary Alice over when she rushed out of his office. She barely managed to make it to the restrooms where her stomach heaved in several waves.

"What's wrong with her?" Mr. King asked James. "She looked pale."

"Just some female indisposition, I assume." James stated with another fake smile. "Maybe we could discuss the rest of my contract while she freshens up a bit?"

"Sure, Mr. Huntsman, I'd love to. Miss Brandon is very talented. She's one of the most ambitious young women I've seen in my life."

"I'm sure she does a good job."

"Oh she does. I wonder how she managed to make it through law school. Most women have enough trouble keeping their grades up even if they don't have a child to deal with."

"A child? Miss Brandon has a kid?"

"Actually the kid is already a teenager. I think Matthew is about fourteen."

"Fourteen? Are you sure?"

"I'd have to check Miss Brandon's personnel file to make sure. Why are you asking?"

"I'm just curious," Huntsman mumbled his mind beginning to race. The little slut had almost fucked up his life once. He couldn't risk for that to happen a second time…


	12. Chapter 12

[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] Welcome back to another update. I want to thank all of you for taking the time to read and review my story.

****12****

_There are no facts, only interpretations_

_(Friedrich Nietzsche)_

Mary Alice's head was throbbing. She rinsed her mouth and made her way back to her office, locking the door behind her.

What in heaven's name was she supposed to do now? The thought of having to work side by side with James brought her close to a panic attack. There was no way she was going to let the bastard ruin her life. She had worked way too hard for getting where she was now.

Taking a deep breathe, she dialed the number of Royce King's phone in order to arrange a meeting with him later that day at his place. He was in an excellent mood. The fact that he had managed to knock up his stupid wife made him obviously happy. Mary Alice was determined to convince him not to let Huntsman work for him. Yet she still had no clue how to do that.

For the rest of the afternoon, she tried to distract herself by working through some files. That Crowley case was still causing her trouble. Now that the Dwyer woman had decided taking things to court, she needed to come up with a different strategy.

She sighed and poured herself a glass of water to swallow some painkillers. Then she grabbed her jacket and slipped into her heels.

Keep your head up, she scolded herself, forcing her lips into a fake smile. You're not a child anymore. James couldn't do anything. She wasn't weak and helpless like she used to be when they were still together.

A chuckle behind her made her turn around in the elevator. When she saw James standing in the corner, she tried to step out before the doors closed. It was too late.

"Finishing work early today, Miss Brandon?" he asked, pressing the stop button. The alarm went on and Mary Alice growled.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"See, when you're agitated, you still don't speak like a lady."

"I expect you to leave me alone. Don't even consider talk to me unless it's work related, you piece of scum."

He reached out his hand, wrapping it forcefully around Mary Alice's small wrist.

"Take your paws off me! I'm going to press charges against you, if you don't stop molesting me."

He dropped his hand and chuckled again. Then he pushed some buttons that made the elevator move downwards again.

"I'd like to meet our son." He told her with a devilish grin on his face.

"I have a son. Matt has nothing to do with you."

"As a father, I have rights, you know that? Don't you?"

"Well, he's not from you. So, just leave us alone."

With that she stepped out of the elevator. She felt proud when she managed to make it to her car before she broke down. Now that she could cry again, it seemed almost impossible for Mary Alice to stop it.

Her eyes were red when she entered Bella's room in the hospital. Just for a few minutes, Mary Alice told herself. You can try to act as if everything is fine for a few moments. Bella had enough on her plate right now.

"Pretty flowers," Mary Alice murmured, circling her fingertips over the yellow lilies. "I should have brought some with me. I suck as a girlfriend."

"You don't. Come and sit with me. You're so pale. It's probably because you're always working so much."

"Doesn't matter," Mary Alice stated, trying to keep her voice from cracking. "I'm more concerned about you. Are you feeling a bit better?"

"I don't know, how I am supposed to feel. It's like I'm empty. Angela sent the flowers. Can you believe that? I lost her baby and she's still so nice to me."

Mary Alice pulled Bella close. She pressed her face against the chestnut curls of her beloved's hair and inhaled deeply. Bella's hair smelled like cheap hospital soap and Mary Alice knew that she liked that sweet strawberry-scented shampoo she was usually using way better. Maybe she should go to a drugstore and get it for her?

"Have you been crying?"

"A bit,"

"Your eyes don't look like it has only been a bit." Bella said, wiping a tiny rest of smeared mascara from underneath Mary Alice's eyes. "What is wrong with you?"

"I don't want to agitate you after what happened. You need to rest."

"I can't lie here, knowing that something is wrong with you. We promised to tell each other everything. Have you forgotten about that?"

"No, I haven't. Look, there is this new dude at work. Mr. King hired him and the man is being a total bastard. He's trying to flirt with me and grope me whenever we're alone."

"What? You need to press charges against this man. I swear, if I wouldn't be in this stupid hospital bed, I would go and kick his ass so hard."

"Please, stay calm. I can handle this situation."

"My Dad is a police officer. I know how to show you to defend yourself and hurt a guy where it's really painful."

Mary Alice kissed Bella's dry lips. "I'm going to ask my boss to not sent shithead with me to Chicago. Wish me luck."

"Oh let him come. Charlie is going to make his life a living hell over there."

"Speaking of Charlie, have you called your father and told him you are in here? He needs to know."

"I don't need him to show up here and make a scene. He'd be totally against the whole surrogate mother thing."

Such a smart man, Mary Alice thought.

"I love you, Bella. You are my life. I want to go to Chicago with you and be happy. I want us to buy a dog and eat greasy Chinese Take Out every night."

"I'm more of a cat person and if you move to Chicago with me, I'm going to teach you how to cook."

"Matt would like that." Mary Alice stated. "But maybe he'd like it better if I allowed him to stay here with Esme and Carlisle."

"You're his mother. The boy will live with us. If he stays with Esme, he'll never grow up. She's spoiling him too much."

Bella managed to make Mary Alice feel a bit better. She didn't deserve her caring so much about her, especially right now. Mary Alice had no clue how difficult it must be for her to lose this child that was never meant to be hers.

Maybe one day, they could have a child together. Bella would probably like that idea a great deal.

"I have to leave now, but I'll come back a bit later. Try to sleep."

Forty minutes later Mary Alice turned off the engine of her car in front of the huge mansion-like home of her boss. The Kings were rich. Richer than anyone Mary Alice had known in her entire life.

She straightened her back before she knocked on the door.

"Good Evening, Miss." An elderly woman greeted her politely. "You're here for Mr. Royce, aren't you? He had a last minute meeting with a client, but he's going to be back soon. Would you like to have something to drink, while you wait, Miss…sorry, I forgot your name,"

"Brandon. My name is Mary Alice Brandon."

"It's my pleasure to meet you, Miss Brandon. May you follow me please?"

Inside the house was even more posh than from the outside. Mary Alice's heels clicked on the red marble floor. There were gold-framed paintings hanging all over the walls.

"Would you like a glass of wine, Miss Brandon?"

"Some water would be fine."

"I'll be right back." The woman told her, leaving Mary Alice alone in the huge room.

She walked around and admired a Monet Replica. It was a replica wasn't it? Jeez, King was probably using $ 100 notes instead of toilet paper.

"See anything you like?" A light voice asked suddenly from behind. "Royce thinks Art is a terrible waste of money."

Mary Alice turned around. The Queen was dressed in a plain pair of jeans and a tight blue top. Even without any make-up on, she was still beautiful.

"Mrs. King."

"Miss Brandon, right? You work for Mr. Shannon."

"I work for your husband too."

"We all work for Royce, even me in a way."

The housekeeper returned, placing a tray with a crystal glass and a small bottle of water on a desk next to Mary Alice.

"Mrs. King, anything I can get you?"

"I'm good, thank you, Lucy."

"You should have a glass of milk. It's healthy for the baby."

"I told you I don't want anything. Don't you have something else to do apart from bothering me like a mother hen twenty-four-seven?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. King." Lucy croaked, rushing out of the room.

"You're rude to her."

"If you'd be in my place for just one day, you'd be running away from her—screaming."

The blonde woman sighed and sat down next to Mary Alice on the small couch.

"You think I'm a bitch, don't you?"

"No, Mrs. King."

"A lawyer should be able to lie a bit better. I know what everyone in Royce's office thinks about me."

"Does it matter to you?"

"Not exactly, Miss Brandon, not exactly. It's just…I envy all of you so much. Maybe that's why I'm acting the way I do."

"Your life is perfect. Why would you envy anyone?"

The tall woman laughed bitterly. Then she stood up and lifted the small Monet painting from the wall. "See, it's made in fucking China? It's not real and so is my life."

"Mrs. King, I don't understand."

"That's fine. No one ever does." she stated, placing the fake painting on the wall again.

Then her hands moved down her abdomen. "I'm not showing yet, am I?"

"I don't think so. How far along are you?"

"Eight…ahm, I mean six weeks. Do you have any kids, Miss Brandon?"

"A son, Matt is fourteen."

"Miss Brandon! I'm sorry, I kept you waiting." Royce called out, entering the room. "Rosalie, what are you wearing? We are supposed to have dinner with my parents tonight. Father is taking us to this new French restaurant. Please, change into something a bit more appropriate."

"I'd like to stay home. I'm not feeling well."

"It's important. We're not going to stay long." He told her in voice that didn't allow any back-talking. Rosalie sighed and walked out of the room.

"Pregnant women are annoying. At least my wife is. She should be happy and yet she's moody as ever."

"Hmm,"

"Well, Miss Brandon. Shall we take our conversation up to my office?"

Silently she followed him to a room at the other side of the house. The mahogany desk was so shiny that Mary Alice could see a blurry reflection of her face in it.

"You have a wonderful home, Sir."

"Thank you, Miss Brandon. Now, tell me what's on your mind."

"It's about that man your father hired for the Chicago office."

"Mr. Huntsman, right? He's a shark but we need someone like him."

"I don't think so, Mr. King. The man is creepy."

"Creepy?"

Mary Alice swallowed nervously. "He's kind of molesting me, I'd rather not work too close with him."

"Miss Brandon, has it ever occurred to you that maybe the problem lies with you and not the poor man?"

"So, now it's my fault that he's harassing me?"

"I didn't say that. Just…maybe you're sending out the wrong signals. For example with these slutty shoes you are wearing."

"Mr. King, this is highly inappropriate." Mary Alice told him, trying to pull her skirt a bit further down. She should start wearing pantsuits at work.

"Relax. You're not my type. I prefer curvy blondes. Look, I want you to solve whatever issues you are having with Huntsman."

"And if don't want to do that?"

"You're a smart woman. I've seen the cases you've been working on. King & Son would be more than sorry to lose someone with your great potential."


End file.
